


Downfall Of Us All

by Darylslover33, snowqueen79



Series: The Spider Sisters [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Bucky Barnes, BAMF Clint Barton, Child Loss, Clint Barton Feels, Depression, F/M, Genocide, Grief/Mourning, Human Experimentation, Hydra is evil, Past Clint Barton/Bobbi Morse, Past Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Past Rape/Non-con, Protective Avengers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, Sexual Experimentation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22835614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darylslover33/pseuds/Darylslover33, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowqueen79/pseuds/snowqueen79
Summary: After suffering a crippling and devastating betrayal from someone he trusted, Clint struggles with his demons as he goes on a quest for vengeance. Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi struggles to cope, after a traumatic ordeal that collides her with a vengeful archer. Co – Written with snowqueen79. Clint/OC, Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, and other pairings. Rated M for violence, upsetting scenes and eventual smut.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Original Female Character(s), Helen Cho/Thor (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Series: The Spider Sisters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641640
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. A Crushing Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> Me and snowqueen79 do not consent to have our work hosted on any third party app or site. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but archiveofourown, fanfiction.net or tumblr, it has been reposted without our permission.

Clint Francis Barton stared at the area where his two children had disintegrated in front of him, they were gone and unlike the others who had come back, Cooper and Lila weren’t. Only their bodies had returned, their clothes soaked in dried blood. His children were gone, and he’d never even gotten to say goodbye to them, his little boy and little girl were gone. He looked around for Laura, feeling hatred burn through him.  
  
He stood up shakily, and looked at the uniform he’d worn into the battle against Thanos. It was black, and gold.  
  
Ronin.  
  
Clint leaned his head back, everyone else had come back but his two children hadn’t. He heard a noise and turned around to see Laura pointing a gun at him.  
  
And next to her, was Rumlow.  
  
“Laura, what the hell are you doing?” Clint asked wearily, seeing Rumlow smirking at him.  
  
“Isn’t it obvious, Clint? I never loved you, or our children. I was simply following HYDRA and the Red Room’s orders; didn’t you ever think it was strange I knew who Natasha was?” Laura asked coldly, and Clint watched in horror as she stepped closer.  
  
“I was spying, and you are quite pathetic.” She said cruelly, and Clint saw red as she smirked at him.  
  
“Now, Natalia will suffer for betraying the motherland.”

Clint lunged at her, tackling her to the floor as the front door was kicked open. Rumlow fired at him, missing him but grazing his left forearm.  
  
He cursed, and kicked at Rumlow in the face. The man yelled in pain and pulled out a knife as Clint avoided being gutted by the man. What he hadn’t considered, was Laura plunging the knife into the left side of his stomach. Clint could actually feel the pain burning through him, as he heard footsteps.  
  
“Clint! Clint, don’t you dare die on me!” Natasha said fiercely, her dyed blonde hair framing her face. Clint attempted to smile weakly, but his eyes strayed to the returned bodies of his children.  
  
“Nat….Laura, she’s…she’s HYDRA.” He rasped weakly, as two EMT’s rushed into the living room.  
  
“Move out of the way, Agent Romanov.” The EMT said urgently, and they got him onto a gurney.

“Nat,” Clint rasped, grabbing her hand and only then realizing it was covered in his own blood. “Be… careful. Please.”  
  
She squeezed his hand. “I promise. I’ll be careful,” she whispered, trying to smile. “Now let them put you back together. You’re still not getting out your birthday party, you know.”  
  
He would have smiled for her except the pain was so damned bad. He didn’t miss the tears that had gathered in her eyes.  
  
It was bad. He knew it was bad.  
  
“Pictures,” he managed to say to her as they sped him out of the house.  
  
Clint’s mind spun as they rolled him out towards the waiting ambulance, the blurry view of the farmhouse where his children had grown and played, the simple yard with the tree swing that hung motionless from Lila’s favourite tree burned into his memory. Cooper’s bike propped against the porch was the last thing he saw before they closed the ambulance doors.  
  
His babies were gone.  
  
Nat would grab pictures of them for him. He still had Nat, his friend who’d been with him through so much. Budapest. Loki’s enslavement of him. Sokovia. The births of his children. Unable to have children of her own, Nat had loved them so much.  
  
But Nat was in danger.  
  
 _‘N_ ow, _Natalia will suffer for betraying the motherland.’_  
  
The EMT’s worked on him, hooking him up to monitors and trying to stop the flow of his blood at his side. At best, he only had a few moments of consciousness left and the intense pain wasn’t making that easy.  
  
The physical pain was nothing when he thought he’d never see his children again, never hold them, watch them grow up, play with their children. The ragged hole their loss ripped in his heart? That would never heal, never fade.  
  
Laura.  
  
Laura had never loved him or their children? His children? She’d been HYDRA the entire time? Jesus. What had she gotten from him over the years and how had HYDRA used that information against him? Against their entire team?  
  
And now she was after Nat?  
  
Clint’s world in the creaking, metal cave of the ambulance began to narrow down, fade.  
  
“That’s it,” one of the EMTs, an older man, told him. “Try to relax. Breathe deeply.”  
  
Clint was fading, and he tried to ease into that darkness, knowing there was a good chance he wouldn’t come back out of it. If he were reunited with his children, he could live with that. He wasn’t leaving them behind and Nat had Steve to watch over her.  
  
But if he did come back…  
  
God help Laura. There’d be no place in heaven or hell where she’d be safe from him.

He started seeing black dots in his vision, and he could have sworn that he heard a female voice singing a lullaby to him. He smiled at the voice, and let the darkness take over him.

* * *

Natasha grabbed the pictures of Cooper and Lila quickly, Clint had asked for one thing. The least she could do, was give him these treasured pictures of his children. Tears silently slid down her cheeks, as she looked at the photo of Cooper smiling happily at the camera. It had been taken at his sixth birthday, and Clint treasured it.  
  
Clint had to pull through…. he had to, he was like a little brother to her. She couldn’t lose him, after losing Cooper and Lila. She wiped her eyes and drove to the Avengers Compound where Steve was waiting for her. She got out of the car, and ran into the compound, where the others were.  
  
Was Clint alright?  
  
“How is he?” She asked quietly, Steve sucked in a deep breath and wordlessly held her tightly in his arms.  
  
“He’s in surgery, the surgeon says that he has internal bleeding.” He said grimly and held her close.

* * *

_The air was hot around him, Clint shielded his eyes from the sun as he stumbled across a waterfall. He cautiously went through and saw a young woman with almost white blonde hair sitting cross legged, on an embroidered rug with candles being the only light.  
  
She was wearing a black fringed dress, and her hair fell in gentle white blonde waves. She had light blue eyes, that had flecks of green in them.  
  
“Hello Clint.” She greeted softly, Clint wearily sat down in front of her. He was wondering where the hell he was and looked at her cautiously.  
  
“Am I dead?” He asked quietly, the woman laughed softly, and her laugh sounded like bell chimes. She looked hauntingly beautiful, and not like Laura.  
  
“No, you aren’t.”_

_Looking around, lush greenery sprawled all around them but there was not another soul to be found. His heart clenched in his chest as he watched, scanning the perimeter, hoping Cooper and Lila would come from beyond his line of vision, smiling as they ran into his arms.  
  
Were they here?  
  
“Is this a dream?” He asked the young woman.  
  
Her head tilted as she seemed to study him. “Maybe.”  
  
Her gaze dropped to her hands, folded in her lap. Her hands were lovely, all long slender lines and fingers. Her skin was smooth with a few small, silver scars scattered across it. Her nails were short, bare.  
  
“Who are you?” Clint asked.  
  
Her eyes, magnetic pale blue-coloured eyes, lifted. Her gaze met his and she smiled softly. Whoever she was, she truly was beautiful. But there were shadows behind those amazing eyes, a myriad of emotions swirling in them. Her eyes held secrets, sorrows. Her gaze moved over him slowly and he shivered under that soulful gaze.  
  
“I’m Grace,” she told him.  
  
The name suited her.  
  
Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty…  
  
The phrase stuck in his mind from a book he’d read while recovering from the attack on New York. At the time, he tried to remember the words as a mantra, a meaning he could focus on when things didn’t make sense.  
  
The words perfectly described this moment, sitting here with her. There was pain, difficulty. It lingered in the shadows all around them, ready to crash in on him like a dark wave. But for the moment, as he sat there with Grace, he felt calm. Peace.  
  
“Where are we?” He asked wearily.  
  
Grace shook her head. Lifting her hand, her fingertips grazed the side of his face, her touch whisper soft.  
  
“We’re here,” she said simply, her touch skimming along his jaw. Her palm flattened against his cheek and he leaned into that touch, her hand so soft and warm.  
  
“Am I dead?” He asked quietly, wondering if this was limbo. He wouldn’t be surprised if this was where he was trapped here. Grace simply smiled and shook her head.  
  
“You’re in between worlds Clint, you’ve flatlined. Your soul is in between the afterlife, and the living world.” She explained softly, when he heard a noise in the distance.  
  
“Where’s my children?” He asked worriedly, fearing for Cooper and Lila’s safety. Grace gave him a sad smile, and it frightened him.  
  
“They’re at peace, Clint. They moved on, when you helped defeat Thanos and touched the Soul Stone. Call out to them,” She said gently, and Clint swallowed.  
  
“Cooper? Lila?!” He called out hopefully, and nothing happened for a minute as he looked around. That was when, he saw two small figures running towards him.  
  
“Daddy!” Lila called out relieved, and he embraced them both tightly. Tears stinging his eyes, as he held his two children. He felt tears swim own his cheeks and held them close.  
  
“I love you both so much, I’m sorry couldn’t save you both.” Clint whispered sorrowfully, self-loathing in his voice as he looked at the faces of his children.  
  
“It’s ok, Dad. We’re happy, but you can’t die…. Auntie Nat needs you and so do the Avengers. You need to stop mom.” Cooper said reassuringly, squeezing his father’s hand tightly.  
  
Clint watched as they began fading away, and he could hear voices whispering in the wind. He looked at Grace, who was starting to look worried.  
  
“You need to return to the living, Clint. Everything has become unbalanced since the Reality Stone and Mind Stone were returned.” Grace said urgently, taking his hand.  
  
“I can’t leave you here, Grace.” Clint protested heavily, Grace shook her head sadly at him. She was starting to fade away, and he strained his ears to hear what she was saying.  
  
“Tell Peter I’m sorry, that me and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn’t tell him what we are,” She whispered regretfully, and Clint could feel himself falling.  
_

* * *

Clint woke up gasping for breath and looked around to see he was in a hospital room. He yanked the oxygen mask off his face, as he saw Natasha waking up.  
  
“I saw them Nat! I saw Cooper and Lila, and there was a woman with them!” He gasped breathlessly, his throat was dry.  
  
“What do you mean Clint? Did you dream about them?” Natasha asked wearily, concern in her voice. Clint took a sip from the plastic cup filled with water and swallowed. He spoke about what Grace had said.  
  
“It was a dream…. But….she said her name was Grace.”

“Clint, take it easy,” Nat tried to ease him back down, but he struggled in her hold. “You’ve been through a lot.”  
  
“Nat?” Steve came through the door, surprised at the scene before him. While he was pleased to see his friend awake, he dashed to the other side of the bed, helping Nat by gently gripping Clint’s arms. “Hey, pal. I need you to relax for me, okay? If you pull out those stitches…”  
  
Clint stopped, taking in the concern in Steve’s blue eyes. “Stitches?”  
  
“Clint, you almost bled to death,” Nat told him, eyes shiny with tears. “We almost lost you.”  
  
Clint swallowed hard, remembering what Grace had told him. That he had to return to the land of the living. Why couldn’t he have stayed? His babies had been there. In his arms. Why couldn’t he stay?  
  
An ugly, raw sob ripped from his throat as he sank down into the bed. Nat followed him down, holding him without putting any weight on him.  
  
“Oh, my God, Nat,” Clint whispered as the pain in his heart threatened to tear him apart. “I had them. They were right there and now… now I'm…”  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Nat’s tears sank into his pillow, smeared his neck. “I’m so, so sorry.”  
  
Steve gently rubbed circles into Nat’s back, his hand on Clint’s shoulder, letting him know he was there.  
  
“They… said they were happy…But they said Auntie Nat needed me,” Clint went on.  
  
Nat sobbed along with him, her grip tightening on him in a way that his side throbbing. Clint didn’t care. He’d take the pain. A thousand knives carved into him couldn’t begin to compete with the loss he was suffering.  
  
“It wasn’t a dream,” he whispered. “They… told me I had to stop Laura.”  
  
That got Steve’s attention. “What happened, Clint?”

“I was in a forest, and I went behind a waterfall where I met this woman. She was sitting in a cave behind the waterfall, and she was wearing a black fringed dress. She told me that everything had become unbalanced, since the Mind Stone and the Reality Stone had been returned to their original places,” Clint explained quietly, his grey eyes lost in thought.  
  
‘What else happened Clint?“ Natasha asked gently, sensing that there was more to the story than what Clint was telling.  
  
"I saw Cooper and Lila, they said I had to stop Laura and that I couldn’t leave you. And the woman, Grace said something to me before I woke up.” He said distantly, trying to remember what his dream had been.  
  
It was confusing, as hell.  
  
 _‘Tell Peter, I’m sorry that me and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn’t tell him what we were,’ Grace had said remorsefully, regret flashing in her blue eyes._  
  
Somehow, Clint knew she wasn’t talking about Peter Quill but about Peter Parker. Was that who she’d been talking about?  
  
“She said that she wanted me to tell Peter, that she and Soph are both sorry. Sorry, that we couldn’t tell him what we were.” Clint explained quietly, causing Natasha and Steve to look at each other.  
  
“I’ll ask Tony and Bucky to see if Peter knows anyone by the names Grace and Soph.” Steve said wearily, he kissed Natasha and squeezed Clint’s right shoulder in a comforting gesture.  
  
Clint nodded, and watched him leave as he turned to look at Natasha who was sitting down by his bed.  
  
“Laura…..she’s Red Room, Nat. She was sent by HYDRA and the Red Room, she said you’d suffer for betraying the motherland.” He warned grimly, Natasha held his hand.  
  
“She won’t get me, Clint. We’ll make her pay for what she’s done to you, Clint.” Natasha vowed fiercely, Clint nodded silently.

* * *

“Any luck on finding this Grace, and Soph?” Bucky Barnes asked quietly, he looked at Tony who was looking at the screen in front of him.  
  
“So far, nothing. You?” Tony asked civilly, Bucky shook his head when the Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross entered the room with a ruthless expression on his face.  
  
“You Avengers are needed, we’ve discovered that two highly dangerous individuals have failed to sign the Accords. I want all of the Avengers in the conference room, Barton there as well,” Ross said coldly.  
  
“What’s so dangerous about them?” Bucky asked wearily, Ross handed him a file to read.  
  
“Their mother was a Red Room agent, Sergeant Barnes.”

It was a small world.  
  
“Hey, Buck.” Steve stood in the doorway of the office, arms folded across his chest. “Find anything yet?”  
  
Bucky shook his head. “How’s Clint?”  
  
Steve shook his head, walking around Ross to the counter where Tony worked, leaning against it. “We’re lucky he’s still alive. Severe blood loss. He flatlined on the table.”  
  
“But he is still alive,” Ross said to Steve meaningfully, “and I want all of you in the conference room in an hour. Including Barton.”  
  
Steve pushed off from the counter to approach Ross. “Barton is recovering in his hospital bed. You heard what I just said. He’s not going to be there, Ross. Be reasonable.”  
  
“I am being reasonable. More than reasonable where the lot of you are concerned,” Ross explained.  
  
“What’s so important?” Steve wanted to know. “What’s so important that we have to drag a team member who almost died into your meeting?”  
  
Ross didn’t look concerned. “One hour. Barnes has the file.”  
  
With that, he turned on his heel and left.  
  
“Asshole,” Tony muttered.  
  
“What’s this about?” Steve looked from Tony to Bucky.  
  
Bucky’s attention had been divided between Steve’s confrontation with Ross and the file in his hand. The documents were intel on two women, sisters. He had to admit they were both beautiful. When he got to the back of the file, he found information on their mother, Anya Melnychenko, A Red Room agent who was highly regarded. But how the hell had a Red Room agent had two children?  
  
What was the Widow Program?  
  
And that’s when he looked again at the names. Sophie and Grace.

They weren’t Russian names, normally the Red Room gave the prospective future Red Room agents Russian names. These two names would be considered, western by the Red Room.  
  
“Ross wants us to arrest two sisters, who according to him have failed to sign the Accords.” Bucky said finally, anger in his tone and swallowed.  
  
“Their mother was a Red Room agent, Steve.”


	2. Phantom Of The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint, Bucky and the team uncover secrets about a former Red Room agent and her child, while Bucky wonders if he ever met a man called Adrian. Two sisters fear for their future.

Clint managed to put on a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans, he tied up his boots with some luck. He stood up and looked at the right side of his stomach where Laura had stabbed him. His heart ached for the loss of his children; he would never see them again. He'd never hold them, watch Cooper become a good man or see Lila walk down the aisle.  
  
They were gone, but he'd never forget them.  
  
He walked to the conference room where the others were waiting, and Ross was there already. He glanced at the Home Secretary with hatred burning in his eyes, as he looked at the man. He wished he hadn't taken the deal with Ross, he'd wanted to see his children, and this was the price he was paying. If he'd been with Nat, Steve and the others.... would things have been different?  
  
Maybe.  
  
"We have discovered that two sisters, Sophie and Grace Drăgoi Melnychenko are the daughters of a Red Room Operative. Her name was Anya Melnychenko, she was born in Ukraine, Kiev." Ross said coldly and pressed a remote that showed a photo of a blonde-haired young woman.  
  
"Was she around the same time as Natasha?" Tony asked cautiously, he knew Natasha's past was a sore subject to be asking about.  
  
"Anya Melnychenko wasn't around when I was being trained. But I heard whispers about more young girls being recruited," Natasha admitted quietly, Steve squeezed her hand tightly.  
  
"Stark, pull up the file on here." Ross ordered harshly, and Tony's face darkened but he did as the man ordered. He pulled up the file, and Clint felt his stomach roll in nausea.  
  
"They were impregnated by Winter Soldiers, who were HYDRA assassins." Steve said sickened, and Clint glanced at Bucky whose face had darkened in anger.

"I don't understand," Bruce said, "and with all respect, Nat, because I know it's an unpleasant subject. But weren't the Red Room agents forcibly sterilized?"  
  
"This came from the Red Room," Ross explained, "but it was a different program. It was called the Spider Widow Program. A breeding program. According to the intel we've gathered, they intended to hand select young women from the Red Room and breed them with the Winter Soldiers. Their intention was to breed a superior class of elite female assassins. Instead of training them as small children, as they have for decades in the Red Room, they would begin shortly after conception."  
  
Clint shook his head. "After conception? What does that mean?"  
  
"Anya was the test subject in this program," Ross went on. "They selected her to be the first in this program. Both times they used a soldier named Adam Drăgoi, Romanian in origin, to impregnate her."  
  
At the name, Bucky glanced up at Ross. Did he know who he was? Was the name familiar?  
  
"And he was a Winter Soldier? Like Bucky?" Steve asked wearily.  
  
"Not exactly," Ross replied. "While he was part of the program, his tendencies were not as violent as the other soldiers. It was why he was selected."  
  
"It's rape either way," Nat threw out, looking disgusted.  
  
Ross nodded but went on. "Once they were certain that the pregnancies were viable, and the foetuses’ female, they experimented on each child in utero."  
  
"Before they were born?" Steve shook his head. "And female? So, if either of the babies were male…?"  
  
"The first one was a male foetus," Ross said nonchalantly. "They terminated that pregnancy."  
  
Nat's head lowered. Steve took her hand under the table as Clint watched, trying to comfort her.   
  
"What kind of experiments?" Clint asked. "What did they do?"

"The intel that we've recovered, suggests that they were injected with a rare form of spider DNA. A radioactive spider to be exact and were injected with its blood. They were also given a weaker of the Super - Soldier serum," Ross said bluntly, no empathy in his voice.  
  
"What happened to Anya? After she gave birth." Natasha asked quietly, her voice hard but everyone heard the anger in her voice at what they were hearing.  
  
"She and Adam escaped the Widow Program, they left and took the children with them. After that no one knew what happened to them, until after this." Ross said calmly and played a video.  
  
Clint's eyes widened at the sight of two young blonde-haired women, fighting off a group of men. He'd guess they were HYDRA, two of the men ended up in spider webbing, while the other two were blasted away.  
  
"They are wanted by the UN for refusing to sign the Sokovia Accords, you are to arrest them and by force if necessary." Ross said coldly and looked at them.  
  
"Any questions?" He asked calmly, and Wanda was the one who dared to ask the question.  
  
"What if we can't convince them to come with us?" Wanda asked bravely, Ross regarded the young woman with no emotion.  
  
"They will be sent to the Raft, you will be leaving in an hour. So, I suggest you pack a few things." He said sharply and paused.  
  
"Arrest Agent Grant Ward, he was protecting the sisters and broke the Sokovian Accords. So, bring him in, and Parker." The Home Secretary said coldly, and left.  
  
"Fuck, so we're dealing with two sisters who have spider abilities?" Bucky asked darkly, he was trying to remember any memories that had Adam in them.  
  
"Looks like it, Bucky." Steve said grimly and sighed.  
  
"Suit up."

* * *

Grace Viktoria Melnychenko Drăgoi sighed quietly, as she cleaned up the small cake shop that her mother had owned. It had been Anya Melnychenko’s pride and joy, and she had raised her two daughters to help her run it.  
  
"Well, that's Mrs Carmichael's cake order done, Gracie." Sophie Melnychenko Drăgoi said softly, glancing at her sister reassuringly.  
  
Grace attempted to give her older sister a smile.

The cake she'd done for Mrs. Carmichael was a masterpiece in shimmering white frosting with three layers, intricate doves, and flowers.   
  
Her sister's artistic abilities never failed to amaze her. Grace loved a good cake as much as the next person, but her sister's were so beautiful she wasn't certain she could bring herself to eat one if it were offered to her.  
  
The counters were all done save for Sophie's counter space, the floors swept. Most of their supplies and ingredients were put away.   
  
Grace couldn't overcome the sense that something wasn't done. Something was out of place.  
  
Something wasn't right.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sophie asked her as she eased the cake into the refrigerated display case beneath the counter.  
  
Grace shook her head. "Can't you feel it?"   
  
The cake safely tucked away, Sophie wiped her hands on her apron and studied her. "Feel what?"  
  
Hanging up her own apron and setting aside her broom, Grace tried to give a name to the restless energy that had filled her mind with dread. It had started only a couple of hours ago. Granted that was at five o'clock, their busiest time when people were on their way home from work. And they had been busy so maybe that's why she'd told herself it was just daily stress, supply and demand.  
  
Only the feeling had grown worse.  
  
"Sophie, something is coming," was all Grace knew to say. "Someone is coming."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"If I knew I wouldn't ask, now would I?" Grace wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like her skin was crawling.  
  
"Does this have to do with that dream you told me about?" Sophie asked gently.  
  
"It wasn't a dream," Grace said impatiently. "I talked to him. And he's… coming with them. They are coming here. Oh, God! Can't you feel it?"

Sophie stilled and tuned into her senses, sensing nothing for a moment but then felt like her own skin was crawling. She shivered and looked at Grace.  
  
"Let's drop off this cake and go home." She said quietly, keeping her voice calm despite her inner fear. Grace nodded and pulled the cake out as she carefully got it onto the table.  
  
Sophie pulled out a cake box, so they could deliver it carefully in the car. Sophie took the cake, while Grace closed the store and put the closed sign in front of the front door.  
  
Taking in a few deep breaths, she took off her apron and placed it behind the front counter. She had been on edge since she'd had that dream, with that mysterious man who had talked to her.  
  
Clint, his name was Clint.  
  
She heard Sophie honking the horn, and she quickly left the store and walked to the black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. She got in, and they started driving back to their apartment.

Their apartment was in downtown Brooklyn, a blue-collar area for working class families. When their parents had emigrated to New York, Brooklyn following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they had decided Brooklyn would be a good place to raise their two young daughters.  
  
She missed her parents so much, she sighed as she listened to the radio. Sophie was watching the road, as the car was one street away from their apartment.  
  
"We'll pack a few things, and take the cats with us," Sophie said reassuringly to Grace who nodded quietly, they drove into the apartment parking lot and turned the engine off.  
  
They walked not too quickly to the apartment building, and Grace walked beside her as they reached their apartment. Sophie unlocked the door, and they went inside quickly, and locked the door.  
  
Grace hurried into her bedroom and took out a small travel bag, she packed a few pairs of jeans, underwear, and shirts. She then packed a few tank tops, and t-shirts, and her toiletry bag. She quickly packed it with her shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and her soap, and packed it all in her bag. She took in a deep breath and found Starling fast asleep on her bed.  
  
She picked him up gently, and put him in the car carrier with Custard, Tom, Jack, Reg, Bonnie, Clyde, Paul and Oscar. Sophie came in with Patch, the tuxedo cat purring.  
  
"Got everything packed?" Sophie asked quietly, Grace nodded and picked up a framed photo, she kissed it lovingly and put it in her travel bag.  
  
"Yeah, have you packed everything?" She asked nervously, Sophie nodded and looked at their mother's bedroom.  
  
"I took the passports from the safe, and the money that mom saved up for us." Sophie explained softly, and they started leaving the apartment. Sophie had just grabbed the doorknob when a loud thump sounded behind them. They whirled around to see a large man climbing through the door of their balcony, an assault rifle slung over one should and the other arm was…  
  
Metal? Wait, isn't that…?  
  
Flinging the door open, carrier in hand, Sophie tried darting out the door, nearly colliding with the huge shield of Captain America. Steve Rogers stepped forward, forcing Sophie to step back. To say he filled a room was an understatement. His gaze darted from Sophie to Grace and back.  
  
"Ladies," he said. "Going to need you to come with us, please."  
  
Grace glared back over her shoulder at the Winter Soldier, who was slowly coming in behind them.   
  
"Stop, right there," Grace warned him.  
  
He froze but once they turned their attention back to Captain America, he took another step.  
  
Sophie zinged webbing back at him and in his surprise, she was able to jerk the rifle out of his grip and into hers. She wasn't unfamiliar with firearms, so she hauled it up, pointing it at Captain America's face.  
  
"Get over here, soldier!" Sophie yelled at Bucky, "where I can see you both."  
  
Grace heard the machinery of his arm working as he contemplated his next move. Lunging, that arm swung out to grab Gracie who scaled the wall, staying just out of his grasp, clinging to the ceiling and staying just out of his reach.  
  
"Buck, stop," Captain America told him. "Come here."  
  
Sophie kept the rifle pointed at America's hero and Grace watched warily as the soldier went in the direction of his leader, his eyes not leaving her once.   
  
Captain America lowered his shield, not so much out of fear that Sophie would shoot one of them. It appeared he wanted to talk.  
  
"We're not here to hurt you," the Captain told them. "We're trying to help you."  
  
"Shit!" All of them turned to see Spider - Man just inside their balcony door, his gaze riveted on Grace.  
  
"Grace?" He asked, pulling the mask from his head to reveal Peter Parker who had once been their neighbour. "Is that you?"  
  
Sophie and Grace exchanged glances. Grace dropped from the ceiling, her heart pounding in her chest. She'd always liked Peter. His presence made whatever was going on a little less threatening.  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
"Wait. How do you know each other?" the Winter Soldier asked, frowning.  
  
"We used to be neighbours," Peter explained, walking forward to hug Grace. "Me and May have missed you guys."  
  
"We've missed you too," Grace told him, wishing they could be talking under other circumstances.   
  
Peter looked to Steve and Bucky then. "Guys, what are we doing here? Did they do something wrong?"

"They didn't register under the Sokovian Accords, and Ross considers them to be a risk to Homeland Security." Steve explained quietly, although he didn't like this either.  
  
"We don't want to be used as weapons, by any governments. Please, we just want to be left alone." Sophie pleaded imploringly, hoping they would understand.  
  
"Wait, you've got powers?" Peter asked startled, he knew that their mother, Anya was very protective of them. She was very strict about what boys they dated and had a soft spot for him.  
  
Sophie and Grace glanced at each other, and it was like they were having a silent conversation. They turned to face Peter, and Grace threw webbing at the wall, causing it to stock.  
  
Peter stared at them in shock, and they looked at him sadly. Grace especially looked remorseful, while Sophie simply looked defeated as she looked at Steve and Bucky.  
  
"You're both like me?" Peter asked finally, shocked at what he was seeing in front of him. They nodded, and Sophie was the one who spoke up.  
  
"We wanted to tell you, Peter. Honestly, we did, but mama was terrified at the thought of the government using us as weapons. She forbade us from telling you, but we tried to protect you," Sophie said quietly, regret in her voice.  
  
Peter was just a kid, and she was a grown woman. Peter should be at home studying, or with his friends or with May. Not fighting dangerous criminals, and dangerous organisations. Peter shook his head, he wasn't mad at them, but he was confused as hell as to why the Avengers, and Tony wanted with them.  
  
"We'll go with you, just please.... can we take our cats?" Grace said defeatedly, she knew they had no chance against two super soldiers and the Avengers.  
  
Not to mention, the Hulk.  
  
Steve nodded in understanding, and gently took her by the arm while Bucky took Sophie, as they left the apartment. People had come to see what was going on and were shocked to see the Avengers with them.  
  
Grace was trembling slightly, as they were led outside the apartment building, and showed to a black armoured truck. It looked like a prison van.  
  
"Sophie Vera Melnychenko Dragoi, and Grace Viktoria Melnychenko Drăgoi, you are both under arrest for failure of not signing the Sokovian Accords. Barton, you'll ride with the younger one, while Barnes will take the eldest." A man in a black suit ordered coldly, and two soldiers walked over.  
  
"This way, mam." The soldier said quietly to Sophie she looked over at Grace who looked scared.  
  
"I'm not leaving my sister." Sophie said firmly, refusing to leave her little sister in the hands of this man.  
  
"Are you resisting arrest?" Ross asked challengingly, Sophie squared her shoulders and glared at him.

"Come on," Steve stared down the man in the suit. "They aren't resisting arrest. Let them stay together."  
  
"And pose more of a threat together? No," the man replied.  
  
Grace hadn't paid attention to the other soldier standing next to the scary one with the metal arm. He was flinching slightly in pain as he dug out a pair of handcuffs. Then he looked up, his gaze meeting hers.  
  
It was him. Clint.   
  
The way his grey eyes widened on her gave it away. He recognized her. He was the man she remembered meeting.  
  
"It's okay, Soph," Grace told her sister before her insistence made their situation worse. "I'll be okay."  
  
Sophie frowned at her, mouthed "what the hell". Grace nodded, trying to assure her she didn't feel in any danger.  
  
If Sophie wanted to worry about someone, she should worry about the warrior who carefully placed her in handcuffs, strange-looking, thick handcuffs, and helped her into the van. As Grace watched, she was surprised with the care he took with her sister.  
  
Maybe there weren't all bad. They were in custody. She had to hope for the best now. The soldier slammed the door behind him and Grace watched the van drive away.

* * *

Clint stepped up, Grace put down the carriers and held her wrists out in front of her, not contesting when he placed the handcuffs on her. His gaze met her; such sorrow shadowed those kind eyes as they gazed into her eyes. She remembered his children. How much he loved them, how he'd cried for them. He had his initial reaction to their meeting under control, but still, he handled her with care. He winced as he bent to pick up Grace's carriers.   
  
"Your side," Grace warned, not wanting him to hurt himself. He only picked up one.  
  
The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. "I'll be okay."  
  
Steve grabbed the other carrier at her feet, walking behind them as Clint helped her into another black van and set his carrier down. Steve placed the other carrier in the van, slamming the door shut leaving Grace there on the bench seat next to Clint.  
  
"Thank you," Grace said to Clint in the quiet of the van as the engine started.  
  
Grace hadn't had a chance to tell her sister about meeting Clint, what she knew about him. Hell, they might have an ally in him in getting away from these people at some point. It broke her heart to have to give up their mother's cake shop. The small business had not only sustained them, it was the one thing their mother was so proud of, had worked so hard on.  
  
Their dreams weren't just going to end like this, right? They also had Peter. Maybe he could help them without compromising himself. He could tell them, in truth, that he hadn't know about their abilities before today. That they'd never posed a threat. That had to count for something, right?  
  
"Grace?" Clint's lowered voice pulled her from her thoughts. "You do remember me, don't you? That was real, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that was real. I was in your dream last night when you were flatlining. Thought I was going crazy at first, but I wasn't." Grace said quietly and looked at the street where their cake shop was.  
  
What if they weren't allowed to run the business? That was their mother's legacy, and Grace felt like she'd let down her mother, and to a degree her father.  
  
"Felt real to me, I saw you with your children. I'm sorry, no parent deserves to lose a child." Grace said sadly, her mind drifting to a little boy with dark blonde hair, and a sweet smile.  
  
She wiped her eyes quickly, and stroked Starling through the pet carrier, the cat purring softly.  
  
Clint looked at her quietly, she seemed to genuinely understand what he was going through. That confused him though, Ross had said that she didn't have any children.  
  
 _'Maybe she's just being kind, she lost her mom and dad.'_ He reasoned silently and nodded at her in thanks. Grace smiled quietly and bit her lip.  
  
She hoped Sophie was alright.


	3. Memories Of The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Wanda learn interesting things about Sophie, as she worries about her younger sister. Sophie and Grace learn dark secrets about their parents, that neither of them knew. Grace is forced to confess the truth, about what happened to her in Sokovia, and the disappearance of her son, Zach.

Sophie sat silently in the back of the armoured van with Raymond, Bonnie, Reg, Clyde and Jack in the pet carriers. She noticed the dark-haired woman was staring at her intently, when she spoke.  
  
"I saw your sister in Sokovia, Novi Grad." Wanda said carefully, Sophie frowned at hearing this information. She knew Grace had travelled around Eastern Europe, but she hadn't said anything about going to Sokovia.  
  
"I didn't know Gracie went there, she never told me," Sophie admitted quietly, and looked at Bucky wearily.  
  
"Where are we going?" She asked wearily, but Bucky could hear the anxiousness in her voice. She was scared, and he couldn't blame her.  
  
"We're taking you and your sister to the Avengers Compound, they'll wanna do tests on you and make you sign the Sokovian Accords." Bucky explained grimly, looking at his Vibranium metal arm that had gold on it.  
  
Sophie swallowed.  
  
"What will happen to our shop? That's our livelihood, we can't lose our customers." She asked worriedly, her mother had built this business from nothing and now they could possibly lose it.  
  
"Tony will tell you, but you won't lose the business. It won't come to that, I swear." Bucky said reassuringly, trying to comfort her.

That surprised Sophie. As intimidating as the Winter Soldier was, especially with that arm, his kindness surprised her. She hoped he was right and their shop wouldn't be lost.   
  
"Thank you, sir," Sophie told him, trying to blink back tears.   
  
"Bucky," he told her, his blue eyes meeting hers.  
  
Sophie nodded. He really was handsome with incredible blue eyes. In that moment, it was hard to believe he was the same one who'd lunged at her baby sister back in the apartment.  
  
"Grace, she's my baby sister," she said quietly. "Is she okay back there?"  
  
Bucky nodded. "Clint's a good guy. She's going to be okay."  
  
"Why in the hell is he here?" Wanda demanded. "He just lost his children, he almost died. Why does Ross have him out here with us?"  
  
"I don't know, doll." Bucky shook his head. "I was thinking the same thing. But Clint's a tough bastard. He'll make it through this."  
  
"What?" Sophie looked back and forth between the both of them. "The guy that's back there with Grace lost his children?"  
  
Wanda nodded, her eyes misty. "They were small. They disappeared in the…"  
  
She didn't have to explain that to Sophie. They'd lost their neighbours on both sides to whatever the hell had happened. They'd come back.   
  
"I'm so sorry," Sophie whispered. "There's nothing worse than losing a child…"  
  
Afraid she'd said too much, she cast her gaze at her feet.   
  
"You've… lost a child?" Bucky asked surprised, Ross hadn’t mentioned it in the briefing about the sisters.  
  
Sophie shook her head. "No, not me."  
  
Wanda and Bucky exchanged a glance at that.   
  
"So, you knew Peter?" Wanda asked, her tone careful but friendly.  
  
Sophie nodded. "When our mother was still alive, we lived in the same apartment complex. He's… really great. It scares me a little that he's doing what you do."  
  
"We look after him," Wanda assured her.  
  
Bucky chuckled. "Not like he needs it. The kid's tough."  
  
"So, you can do what Peter does?" Wanda asked intrigued.   
  
Sophie thought about not answering that, but for some reason, she didn't get any bad vibes from her. From Bucky either.

"We've been able to do it since birth, when we were toddlers we'd cling to walls or jump up on the counter. Our parents were very protective of us, they didn't really let us hang out much with people." Sophie admitted shyly, tucking a strand of dark blonde hair behind her left ear.  
  
Her parents had been very respected in the Brooklyn Jewish community, they kept to themselves but were willing to help their fellow neighbours.  
  
Wanda and Bucky exchanged a look with each other silently, it was clear that Sophie had no idea about her parents dark past.  
  
"We're here." Bucky said quietly, the van stopped, and the door was opened for them. Wanda got out, followed by Sophie and Bucky as Ross observed them.  
  
"Take Miss Melnychenko Drăgoi into one of the examination rooms, while Barton brings in the sister," Ross said coldly, and left as two nurses took Sophie to the medical wing.  
  
Bucky watched her go silently, when Peter approached looking angry and upset.  
  
"Where are they taking Sophie?" He asked angrily, upset that his two friends were being treated like criminals.  
  
"Ross wants her to be examined, and undergo tests." Bucky explained quietly, not liking this reason any more than Peter did.   
  
Something was going on, and it wasn't good.

* * *

Clint helped Grace out of the van and frowned at some of the soldiers who treated her harshly. They entered the compound, and Grace looked anxious.  
  
"Where's my sister? Is she ok?" Grace asked anxiously, Clint tried to reassure her as they waited.  
  
"Sophie's fine, they're just running some tests on her." Clint said reassuringly, Grace nodded reluctantly when Dr Jemma Simmons approached them.  
  
"Miss Melnychenko Drăgoi, please come with me. I'm going to examine you, and just run some tests." Jemma said carefully, Grace nodded hesitantly, and followed the woman.  
  
Clint watched her go in silence, when Bucky came over and touched his left shoulder. He looked up, and Bucky sighed.  
  
"Ross wants us in the conference room." 

* * *

Grace had changed into a hospital gown, and felt uncomfortable, it was bringing back painful memories for her. How she'd once worn a hospital gown, and been forced on a bed. She suddenly felt sick and took in a deep breath before laying down on the hospital bed. Dr Jemma Simmons gave her a smile, and she tried to relax.  
  
"I'm just going to do a pelvic exam. Is that alright?" She asked gently, Grace nodded hesitantly and put her feet in the stir ups as a nurse came in.  
  
They'd know what had happened to her.  
  
Tears burned her eyes, and she tried to blink them away but couldn't. Even after three years, she couldn't forget what had happened to her.

Jemma smiled as she put on a small pair of latex gloves, looking over Grace's charts.   
  
"Looks like they got all of your vitals," Jemma said. "Everything looks good."  
  
Grace nodded, trying not to fall apart on the table.   
  
"Are you okay?" the other woman asked.  
  
"Y-yes, Dr. Simmons," Grace didn't sound as brave as she had wanted to.  
  
"Please, call me Jemma," the doctor said carefully. Her face and eyes were kind. "I'm really sorry about all of this. I know how you must feel and I know you must be scared. For my part, I want to help you if I can. Okay?"  
  
Grace nodded, struggling.  
  
Jemma pressed on Grace's abdomen gently, checking the position of the ovaries, the womb. The doctor picked up the speculum and approached her carefully.  
  
"I'm going to do just a routine pap smear, okay?" Jemma asked. At Grace's nod, she got started. "There might be a little discomfort. I apologize."  
  
Grace didn't say anything while the doctor finished getting what she needed, removed the metal, and prepped the slide.  
  
"Almost done," Jemma told her, internally checking the position of the womb with her index finger. Then the woman frowned. "You've had a child?"  
  
There it was.  
  
Tears escaped her eyes, hot and stream over her temples into her hair. Grace couldn't breathe, somehow managed to nod.  
  
Jemma peeled off the gloves, approaching Grace's side gently. "Can you tell me about it?"  
  
"Why?" Grace's anguish was evident in her voice.  
  
"I'm supposed to tell you it's procedure," Jemma explained, "and that all of the Avengers go through a complete physical examination. It's true. But I know this must seem like a horrible invasion of privacy to you. I'm so sorry."  
  
Grace squeezed the hand that was offered to her in kindness. "I had a son," Grace whispered. "His name was Zach."  
  
The doctor's eyes were shiny, like she knew the story that was coming wasn't going to have a happy outcome.  
  
"What happened?" Jemma asked gently.

"It happened when the Sokovian Accords were approved, my son Zach....he inherited my abilities and somehow SHIELD found out. A team came, and they took him away, I can still hear him crying." Grace whispered brokenly, and tears slid down her cheeks.  
  
Jenna felt her own eyes sting with unshed tears, this young woman had lost her son because of SHIELD. What on earth had happened to Grace's son, after he'd been taken.  
  
"Do you know where they took him?" Jemma asked quietly, compassion in her voice and Grace wiped her eyes with a tissue. She was trying to calm down, but the emotions were still raw.  
  
"No, I looked everywhere but I never found him. I have hope that he's out there still, but I don't know where he is or if he's even here," Grace admitted quietly, and swallowed.  
  
"Do you know who the father is?" Jemma asked finally, knowing that this had to be difficult for Grace to talk about. Before Grace could speak, Natasha was at the door and she looked angry, but it wasn't directed at her.  
  
"Dr Simmons, Agent Bobbi Morse wishes to speak to us." She informed quietly and looked at Grace who looked like she'd been crying.  
  
"I'll be right back, Grace." Jemma said comfortingly, Grace nodded and wrapped her arms around her stomach tightly.

* * *

"What the hell does SHIELD want?" Clint asked wearily, he didn't have any fondness for SHIELD at the minute. Since Coulson was revealed to be alive, he was furious that Fury and Director Maria Hill had kept the team in the dark about Coulson.  
  
"We've been ordered by the SHIELD Deputy Director Gonzalez, to interview Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi. She is considered a threat by Homeland Security, and is required to be placed in custody," Bobbi said coldly, her voice unemotional and detached.  
  
Clint couldn't believe that he'd married her once, it had been a big mistake and it hadn't ended well.  
  
"You can interview her, but she's staying here. She hasn't done anything wrong, and neither has her sister." Clint said angrily, and Bobbi glared at him when Bruce spoke up.  
  
"When we were examining Grace, we found scars on her body, and Jenna did a pelvic exam." Bruce said quietly, as he guided them to a room.  
  
Clint looked at the photos, and saw faded scars on Grace's chest, shoulders and neck. There were a few scars on her back, as well.  
  
"Where did she get these scars?" Wanda asked shocked, and Jemma swallowed slightly before speaking.  
  
"We don't know, but when I examined her there were signs that she'd given birth at least two years ago. She had a son." Jemma said quietly, causing the room to go quiet.  
  
"None of Grace's files mention her having a child, or going to a hospital." Hope said confused, and Tony sighed quietly before he and Scott exchanged a grim look.  
  
"That's because someone wiped her medical files clean, there's nothing there except Grace's birth records. Someone didn't want any of us to find out Grace had a child," Natasha said grimly, looking at Clint who looked deep in thought.  
  
Grace had a son, she had a son.  
  
"Did she say who the father was, Dr Simmons?" Bobbi asked impatiently, Jemma frowned at her.  
  
"She was too upset, and I didn't ask." Jemma said coolly, she left to go check on her patient.  
  
"That explains what Sophie said earlier in the van, she said it was horrible losing a child." Bucky said sympathy in his voice, and Ross glared at him.  
  
"Romanoff, Morse, question her and find out who the father was. For all we know, he could be an Inhuman, a Mutant or Enhanced." The Home Secretary ordered sharply.

Clint watched the bastard walk off, lowered his voice. "These scars," he said to Jemma, pointing to a couple of them. "She was tortured."  
  
Jemma nodded. "Seems likely."  
  
Natasha and Clint exchanged a glance. He knew Nat could handle Bobbi and she'd be careful with Grace in getting the rest of the story.

Nat tapped Bobbi on the shoulder, nonchalantly telling her they had to go. To someone who didn't know Nat well, she would seem perfectly calm. Clint knew better. Nat would get the rest of Grace's story.  
  
Something told him he didn't want to know it. Nat felt it too.

* * *

Grace had dressed, there was still no sign of Sophie, and they'd led her to a small conference room. It was cold, and she was alone, just wishing she could curl in on herself and be anywhere else.  
  
When the door opened, two women walked in. One wore a grey pantsuit with a violet dress shirt. Her dark blonde hair framed her face in loose waves. The other woman was dressed casually in jeans with a t-shirt and hoodie. Her hair was blonde and bobbed off at her jaw line. Grace looked closer, realizing this woman she'd seen on TV. Her hair had been red.   
  
Ah, that one was the Black Widow. Unlike the woman in the suit, who regarded her coolly, the famous spy's eyes were kind. It was easier to look at her.  
  
"Grace, we're here to talk to you," the woman in the suit said. "I'm Agent Bobbi Morse. This is Agent Natasha Romanoff."  
  
Grace nodded. "And then we'll be done?"  
  
Natasha smiled gently. "Then we'll be done."  
  
Bobbi shot the other agent a look before clearing her throat and turning her attention back to Grace.  
  
"You're being held because you're considered a threat by the office of Homeland Security," Bobbi started. "The faster you tell us what we need to know, the faster we can get you processed. Okay?"  
  
"Processed?" Grace asked. "By that do you mean my sister and I can back to our lives? We're not trying to pose a threat to anyone. We own a cake shop. We make cakes for people's weddings and birthday parties. That's all."  
  
"Your parents were agents for a foreign faction," Bobbi told her tersely.  
  
"So, we're being punished for that?" Grace fought to keep her voice calm and even but was failing horribly.  
  
"No, you're being held for what you've done," Bobbi shot back.  
  
Grace hated that she was trembling, hated thinking back to those days when she'd fought each day just to survive. Would either of these women even begin to understand the darkness she'd been immersed in? What she had to do to survive?  
  
How could they?

"What have I exactly done? Please tell me." Grace said resentfully, angry that she was being held for something that she most likely hadn't done.  
  
"Consorting with a known terrorist, by the name Brock Rumlow who was a former S.H.E.I.L.D agent. You met him in Sokovia, on the 14th of July." Bobbi explained coldly, showing Grace a photo of the man who had r***, and tortured her.  
  
Natasha saw Grace's face pale at the sight of the photo, and her hands were shaking slightly. So, Rumlow had been the man who had tortured and possibly raped her.  
  
"I didn't meet him by choice, I was in Sokovia doing relief work with the Red Cross. I wasn't doing anything illegal, I was just trying to help people." Grace said defensively, trying to keep her emotions under control.  
  
She could feel his hands on her skin, what he had done to her all those years ago with those two other men. She shivered inadvertently and tried to keep calm.  
  
"But why Sokovia? Surely you knew that there was a civil war going on in the country?" Bobbi pressed firmly, refusing to give the young woman a break.  
  
"Because I wanted to help people, I didn't have an ulterior motive. I was travelling around Eastern Europe and to Israel, to research my family tree," Grace said calmly, trying to keep her temper under control.  
  
"Did you know that you were conceived out of rape, as was your older sister?" Bobbi asked bluntly, causing Grace to freeze in shock a time the woman's words.  
  
Her mother was raped by her father?  
  
"That can't be true, it can't be. My parents were married in 1985, the 5th of November in Ukraine, Odessa. You've got it wrong." She insisted firmly, knowing her father wasn't a rapist.  
  
Adam Drăgoi had been a very quiet man, but had doted on his wife and two daughters. Grace would always remember how he'd always hug her or reassure her when things were rough.  
  
Natasha frowned at Grace's words, the young woman was adamant that her parents had genuinely loved each other. Maybe Adam Drăgoi had genuinely loved Anya Melnychenko, in a twisted way.  
  
"I'm afraid not, you and your sister were born into a program known as the Spider Widow Program. You and your sister were both genetically experimented on while in utero." Natasha explained quietly, causing Grace to look horrified.  
  
"But, have you ever met this man before?" Bobbi interrupted harshly, giving Natasha a warning look before looking at Grace who looked at the photo of Rumlow.  
  
"I've seen him on the news, he was the one who blew himself up in Lagos." Grace said wearily, trying not give anything away.  
  
"Were you in a romantic relationship with Rumlow?" Bobbi asked sharply, studying Grace intently for any weaknesses and Grace flinched as if she'd been slapped.  
  
"No! God no." She said horrified, and Natasha intervened at that minute, seeing Grace looked close to crying.  
  
"Grace, who was the father of your son?" Natasha asked gently, Grace felt tears slide down her cheeks and she felt defeated.  
  
There was no way out.  
  
"I was raped in Sokovia, I was coming back from the clinic when a young man came over. He told me that his twin sister was in labour, and she needed help, I went to help but he knocked me out," She said numbly, staring at the wall ahead.  
  
"What happened next?" Natasha asked gently, she knew this had to be very traumatic for Grace to relive and Bobbi wasn't helping things either.  
  
"I woke up in a room, and there was a man there. He told me that he'd been watching me, and....he called me Widow." Grace said quietly, she pulled at her hairband that was on her right wrist.  
  
Natasha reached over the table and took her hand, Grace was trembling as she spoke the next words.  
  
"They did tests on me every day, and..... that’s when he came into the bedroom that was mine. He was taunting me, I tried to get to the door, but he grabbed me by the hair and started kissing me. I bit down on his lip." Grace said distantly, her mind involuntarily wandering back to the memory.

* * *

_Sokovia, Novi Grad 15th of July 2015  
  
Grace didn't know how long she'd been here in this place, she'd been taken every morning to a room that was like a laboratory but didn't see anyone else. Dr List had taken blood from her every day she'd been on her period, and now she was stuck in this room, her bedroom. She'd tried to keep her mind busy, by reading books.  
  
Her powers weren't working either, she sometimes found herself hang upside down on the ceiling or cocooned in a web. T_ _he door opened, and she saw a man with short dark brown hair, and hard, cruel brown eyes. He had terrible burns on his forearms, and one on his neck.  
  
"Who are you?" Grace asked wearily, trying to smooth down her dress as she eyed the man suspiciously.  
  
"Call me Brock, blondie. Strucker sent me, to babysit his pet project," Brock said coldly, and_ _he leered at her. She could sense his emotions and grasped the glass vase.  
  
She threw it at him._

_He dodged it easily, laughing. His dark eyes gleamed as his gaze slid over her body, his intention was clear. His emotions were heavy with dark intent. He liked her fear.  
  
Grace's heart thundered in her chest. No. No. Why was this happening to her?  
  
Grace had always been able to move quickly. She lunged in one direction, then darted the opposite way, trying to around him and she did throw him off balance. But he was so tall, so big with heavy muscles. She knew if he got his hands on her, she wouldn't be able to throw him off.   
  
His laugh made her begin to feel sick. "If this is how you want it," he said. "It works for me. I want you to fight. Makes it more fun. A lot more fun."  
  
Grace kept scrambling around him, trying the door and then darting away when it wouldn't open, and he almost grabbed her.  
  
"Why?" It came out more as an anguished cry. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
"Because I can," he said simply, trying now to lunge at her, done with this part of the game in his mind. "Because they want me to."  
  
"What?" Grace yelled back.  
  
When she darted for the door this time, she frantically jerked the doorknob, pleading with it, for anything to let her open the door, to run away from here. Hot tears were streaming down her face as she darted away again, only this time not fast enough.  
  
Pain bloomed in her scalp when he grabbed a handful of her hair, jerking her back by it until she was pressed against him. His other arm clamped around her to hold her in place for him. Grace shivered in revulsion as he ran his nose down the line of neck and back up again to lick the shell of her ear.  
  
"We're going to have some fun, Blondie," he whispered roughly into her ear. "While you're welcome to keep fighting me, because I do like it, you might find if you just let it happen, you'll like it."  
  
He'd dragged her to the bed at that point and at that moment, the nightmare she'd been trapped in became a thousand times worse._


	4. Family Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha comforts Grace in the aftermath of her relieving the ordeal with Rumlow, and the loss of Zach. Sophie struggles to cope, upon learning the truth about her and Grace's parents. Bucky and Clint are tasked with taking the two sisters under their watch.

Natasha's grip on her hand was gentle, the emotions that flowed from the spy gave her a small bit of comfort.   
  
"And that's how you became pregnant?" Bobbi asked in a voice that was anything but sympathetic.  
  
Natasha turned to look at her. "Get out," she told her.  
  
That got a reaction from the suited agent. "What did you say to me? We were both told to interview this woman and I—"  
  
"Clint?" Natasha spoke into her com. The door opened instantly and Clint, marched in practically pulling the other agent's chair out from under her.   
  
Clint's gaze met Grace's briefly as he took Bobbi's arm none to gently. His thoughts were apologetic.  
  
When Bobbi had recovered her composure, she glared at both Natasha and Clint. There was something, something between Bobbi and Clint. Whatever it was, or had been, it was a cold, angry thing now. Cold as Bobbi's eyes when she turned back to Natasha with a finger pointed.  
  
"Ross is going to hear about this," she warned the other woman.  
  
"Count on it," Natasha told with a cold expression of her own that would have terrified Grace to have been on the receiving end of it.  
  
Clint pulled the other woman from the room and Natasha waited until the door closed before speaking again.  
  
"I'm… really sorry about that," Natasha said with complete sincerity. "I'm sorry about what happened to you. How long were you their captive, Grace?"

"I don't know, maybe five months. After he attacked me.... they kept on giving me fertility drugs, and each time he would do it again. I escaped when I heard them talking about the Avengers. I just ran into the forest, until a group of Romani found me and looked after me. They took me to a hospital," Grace said quietly, a single tear falling down her face.  
  
She had never gotten over what had happened to her, she probably never would. Rape wasn't something to get over quickly, and it had only been almost seven years.  
  
"Was that when you found out, you were having Zach?" Natasha asked gently, Grace nodded, and she looked at her locket silently for a minute.  
  
"The doctor did a pregnancy test, and it was positive. I loved my son; I couldn't hate an innocent baby that hadn't done anything wrong. He was mine." She said thickly, Natasha reached over and squeezed her hand.  
  
"I'm sorry, Grace." Natasha said quietly, Grace nodded numbly and took in a few deep breaths.

* * *

"What's going on? Where's my sister?!" Sophie asked worriedly, her voice getting angry as she looked at Bucky and Steve who had decided to question the young woman.  
  
"She's safe, Sophie. We just need to ask you a few questions, and then we'll bring you to Grace." Bucky said reassuringly, Sophie nodded hesitantly at his words.  
  
"There's no easy way if saying this, Sophie but you and your sister were conceived out of raped." Steve explained quietly, hating that he had to tell this horrific ordeal to Sophie.  
  
Bucky watched as Sophie's face paled in horror, and she shook her head in denial at Steve's words.  
  
"No....no, no! You're wrong, my parents loved each other! We were born in a village that was in Siberia, you've got it wrong." Sophie said desperately, denial in her tone. This couldn't be true, she knew her parents had fled the Soviet Union after her father had been beaten nearly to death. She'd only been five, and Grace had been three.  
  
Bucky felt sympathetic for Sophie, she was being told that her whole life was a lie. He hated being the one turning her and that of her sister's lives upside down.  
  
"Your father was a test subject in the Winter Soldier Program, the same one I was in, and your mother was a Red Room Operative," Bucky explained gently, showing her the pictures.  
  
Sophie stared at the pictures numbly, her mother looked young in the photo, as did her father. This didn't make any sense, were her parents spies for the Soviet Union?  
  
"So they were Soviet spies?" She asked numbly, trying not to cry but was failing miserably.   
  
Steve and Bucky exchanged a grim look, and Bucky spoke up.  
  
"They were working for HYDRA, Sophie. Your mother and father were both experimented on by HYDRA."

"HYDRA," Sophie said numbly, swiping at her cheeks with the back of one hand. "I hope you understand why this is really hard for me to take in… Our parents loved each other. Loved each other. How do you explain that? Huh?"  
  
Bucky scrubbed his flesh hand down his face. "Maybe they were two great people who both found themselves trapped in terrible circumstances. They found their way out together and they brought you and your sister with them. They took care of each other just like they took care of you. It's easy to see how love could come from that."  
  
"But you'd have me believe until that time they were what? Killers trained by HYDRA? That they signed up for that?" Sophie wanted to know.  
  
"I never signed up to be in the Winter Soldier program, Sophie," Bucky explained carefully. "I was their captive for more than seventy years, but I wouldn't have been there if it had been my choice. I'm just saying the same could have been true for your parents."  
  
"I'm sorry," she said to Bucky and clearly, she meant it. Sophie nodded, blinking back tears and glancing at him and Steve in turns. "Okay. Let's say what you're telling me is true, and I'm not buying it right now. If what you're telling me is true, and our parents were HYDRA, what does that have to do with me and Grace? We didn't do anything. We run a cake shop and try to live normal lives. That's all."  
  
Steve's sigh was a loud whisper in the room. "Because of your abilities. The powers you were given as a result of HYDRA's experiments."  
  
Sophie motioned to Bucky. "He's not incarcerated, and he was experimented on by HYDRA. He got his abilities from them, right? Why are we here?"  
  
"She's not wrong," Bucky muttered.  
  
"It wasn't easy, I can tell you that," Steve told her. "I fought long and hard for Buck, damn near tore the Avengers apart. Otherwise, he would have been incarcerated… or worse."  
  
Sophie was slowly losing her composure. "We don't have anyone fighting for us. We're just… trying to live. You know? We don't want to hurt anyone. We don't know anyone from HYDRA and don't want to. Is there anything you can do to get them to just… let us go back to our lives? My nephew was taken away from us already and that broke Gracie's heart. I don't think she'll ever recover from that and now this?"

"Sophie, we won't let Ross or S.H.E.I.L.D try to arrest you, we know that you and Grace are good people." Bucky reassured, he felt terrible that he was turning the young woman's life upside down.  
  
Steve nodded in agreement, when they saw Tony knock on the door, and he entered the room quietly. He looked at the three quietly, before handing a file to Steve and left.  
  
"Sophie, gave you ever seen this man before?" He asked gently, Sophie frowned and looked at the photo carefully. She'd seen this man before, on the news when the Avengers had been in Lagos.  
  
"I've only seen him on the news, he's dead though. He killed himself by using a suicide bomb vest?" Sophie asked confused, why were they asking her about a dead terrorist.  
  
Bucky and Steve looked grim, and Bucky spoke gently to her with a compassionate tone, in his voice.  
  
"There's no easy way to say this, Sophie but we believe Brock Rumlow was the father of Grace's son," Bucky said quietly, sympathy showing in his grey eyes.

Sophie felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Grace had never said who Zach's father was, she'd refused to talk about it and said it was something she'd rather not talk about.   
  
She knew her sister had witnessed terrible things in Sokovia, while working with the Red Cross but Grace refused to talk about it.  
  
"My sister would never willingly sleep with a man like him, Sergeant Barnes. She's a good person, who'd always help people!" Sophie snapped offended, her heart racing.  
  
Bucky took in a deep breath and looked at Steve.  
  
"We believe that while your sister was in Sokovia, she was kidnapped by HYDRA. While she was held, she admitted to Agent Romanoff that Brock Rumlow would regularly assault her to conceive a child." Steve explained gently, knowing how traumatic this would be for the older woman.  
  
Bucky watched as a mixture of emotions, flashed over Sophie's face in five minutes that were horror, anguish and lastly hatred.  
  
"My little sister was.... was raped?!" She whispered horrified, her expression a mixture of anguish and grief.  
  
"I'm afraid so, is there anything else you can remember? Like anyone acting suspiciously, the day your nephew was taken away?" Bucky asked gently, and Sophie frowned.  
  
"There was a blonde-haired woman, she came into the bakery to collect a birthday cake for her husband. And then when it happened, there was man called Gonzalez." Sophie explained quietly, and tears stung her eyes.  
  
Why didn't Grace tell her?   
  
"What happens now?" She asked bravely, Bucky was about to reply when Ros spoke to them through the coms link.  
  
"Report to the conference room, both of you now!" Ross snarled furiously, and Bucky sighed quietly. He hated that man, Ross had never liked that he hadn't been able to throw Bucky into the Raft.  
  
"We have to go speak with the Home Secretary, but is there anything we can get you?" Bucky asked gently, Sophie blinked in surprise at his kindness.  
  
"A glass of water, please and can I see Grace?" She asked bravely, hoping her sister was alright.

* * *

Natasha showed Sophie to a holding cell. She was surprised because it seemed very upscale for a place, you'd hold someone in detention. There was a chair, a sink, a bed, and a small bathroom. Still, she'd been in cheap hotel rooms that had made this seem luxurious.  
  
"Can I please see my sister?" Sophie begged her.  
  
Natasha's gaze moved behind her and back. "I can give you a few minutes. Okay?"  
  
Sophie nodded eagerly, grateful for anything. Natasha locked the door behind her, when she returned, she ushered Grace in.   
  
The tears on Grace's face broke her heart.  
  
"They are meeting in the conference room with Ross," Natasha told them. "I can't give you long."  
  
"Thank you," Grace told her, sinking onto the bed next to her sister.  
  
Neither of them spoke until Natasha had left. Sophie noticed her sister's shoulders shaking, fighting back sobs. Sophie took her younger sister into her arms, holding her, rocking her the way their mother had when they were children.   
  
"What's going to happen to us?" Grace whispered. "Where are my babies?"  
  
Sophie almost smiled at the mention of their pets. "I wouldn't worry about them. They'll be okay. We'll get them back."  
  
Speaking of babies…  
  
Sophie pulled back, tipping up Grace's face to look at her. "Gracie, Zach's father… Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
What little colour that was in Grace's face drained out. "What did they tell you?"  
  
"You were held captive?" Sophie asked gently. "You were assaulted repeatedly with the purpose of conceiving a child? Why didn't you tell me? I love you. We're all each other have. Why did you shoulder all of that… pain on your own? Gracie…"  
  
Grace dropped her head, shaking it back and forth. "You had enough to deal with, Sophie. I didn't… I couldn't…. Oh, God, is it my fault we're here? Is that why they are after us?"  
  
Sophie pulled Grace tightly against her, her heart clenching in her chest. "Shhhh. This isn't your fault. You didn't do this."  
  
"Th-ey… they said our parents were… HYDRA and that our father he…." Grace was choking on the words.  
  
"They told me the same thing," Sophie whispered into her hair.  
  
"It's not true. Right?"  
  
Sophie didn't want it to be true. But if what they'd told her about Grace and what happened to her was correct, why would they lie about that?  
  
"I don't know. But we'll watch and listen." Sophie was worried herself about what they'd decide for their fate. Not all of them were like Ross. She thought she could trust Steve and Bucky. Bucky had been a captive of HYDRA's too. If anyone had any idea what they were going through, what their parents might have been through, it would be him.  
  
"They are also concerned about our abilities, Gracie," she admitted. "They don't feel safe having people who can… do what we do… not under their control. I think that's the biggest reason why we're here."

"Because they think we can't control our powers, Soph?" Grace asked quietly, feeling her stomach drop. She was scared that they would be detained in the Raft, like that poor family on the news had been detained.  
  
Sophie said nothing, she simply hugged her sister tightly and kissed her forehead softly. She was trying to stay strong, but she was terrified of what would happen.

* * *

"So, you are telling me that neither of them knew the truth about their parent’s true identities?" Ross asked sceptically, Steve nodded grimly and sighed.  
  
"Neither Sophie or Grace knew about their parent’s past, or what had brought them together. Adam and Anya kept quiet about what HYDRA did to them, and just focused on raising their daughters." Bucky spoke up, not liking how Ross was acting.  
  
The man nodded grudgingly and looked at Jemma Simmons who looked at the medical files.  
  
"What about the younger one? She had a son that was conceived out of sex with Rumlow?" Ross asked suspiciously, he wasn't giving up on Sophie and Grace.  
  
"Grace was in Sokovia, Novi Grad during July the 15th. She was doing volunteer work with the Red Cross, doing deliveries and giving First Aid to civilians who'd been hurt in the bombings. She said that a man with silver hair told her that his sister was hurt, Grace followed, and she was knocked out," Natasha answered smoothly, and paused.  
  
"And it wasn't sex, Home Secretary Ross. It was rape, Rumlow violently tortured and sexually assaulted her every damn night and day. Grace said that they never let her out, and she positively identified Dr List as one of the HYDRA scientists." She said coldly, her expression cold as marble.  
  
Clint knew that this was a sensitive subject for Natasha, when they worked with SHEILD, sex trafficking hit her hard. And she always made the bastards suffer.  
  
Ross shrugged at her words, looking indifferent.  
  
"The sisters will remain here, and be trained in your custody. I don't have any jurisdiction or evidence to arrest them, even though they didn't sign the Accords. What happened to her son?" He questioned curiously, causing everyone to stare.  
  
"He was taken away by SHEILD under the orders of Deputy Director Robert Gonzalez, with the backing of Jeffrey Mace. I don't know what the names of the team are, because the files are classified." Tony answered quickly, before Natasha could speak.  
  
He knew Nat was royally pissed off, and so was he. This wasn't what he agreed to, when he signed the Sokovian Accords in Vienna. He didn't agree to support a government that snatched children from their mothers, for simply being different.  
  
"I'll speak to General Glenn Talbot, he'll give you clearance to access the files." Ross said dismissively, not bothered by what Stark was saying.  
  
"So, what happens to Sophie and Grace?" Clint asked wearily, he hoped to god that they didn't end up in the Raft. He wouldn't wish anyone there, unless it was Laura, Bobbi or Rumlow.  
  
"Sophie will be placed in Barnes's custody, and Grace will be watched by you, Barton. Let's hope at least, you can protect her." The Home Secretary said snidely, to the archer.

When Ross made his exit, Natasha quirked a brow at Steve, then looked at Bucky. "Are you up for this? Is Clint?"  
  
That got his attention along with Bucky's.  
  
"It's fine, Nat," Steve told her. "It was my idea actually. Considering what they two of them have been through, I thought they'd each fare better with a team member who understood a little of what they've been through."  
  
Clint shook his head. "I want to help her, Steve, I do but…"  
  
"Hey, if it's too much right now, I can reassign," Steve offered. "Think about it."  
  
Clint knew why Steve gave Grace's charge to him. Not only did he know what it was like being the captive of an enemy power, he'd lost his children and that pain was still raw and fresh, tearing him down any moment his mind wasn't otherwise occupied.  
  
Because of that, he didn't know if was ready for this at the moment.  
  
The room cleared with Nat lingering, studying him. "Are you going to be okay?"  
  
Clint glanced up at her, shaking his head. "I don't know, Nat. Right now, with all that's happened? I just… I don't know."  
  
"I get it. I get why Steve thought to put Grace with me. We have, uh, we have something in common," he admitted.  
  
Nat's smile was kind. "She's already been through this."  
  
"It's not over for her," Clint explained. "I don't see how it ever could be. I still think about them…"  
  
"What I meant was," Nat said slowly, "she's been dealing with this a little longer. Just maybe she can help you as much as you can help her."  
  
Clint hadn't thought of that. "Maybe."  
  
"I'll help you," Nat promised him. "I'll be here for whatever you two need. You know that."  
  
"I know." Pulling her in for a hug, he smiled. "Thank you."  
  
"So, let's get to work. We'll get them set up here in the compound, work out a training schedule," Nat said.  
  
"Does, uh, Tony know about all the felines?" Clint tried not to laugh. He just hoped that he hadn't missed Tony going berserk over this one.

"Not yet," Nat's smile widened. "I want to be there when he hears that."  
  
"Same!" Clint laughed, then he sobered. "What about their cake shop? What happens with that?"

"Tony's got that under control, officially it belongs to them and they're still working there. Tony's made sure the kitchen is stocked with things that they'll need, and all of their customers, neighbours and friends know what's going on. He may have leaked their unlawful arrest to the public." Natasha said smugly, Clint grinned at her words.  
  
"I can't imagine Ross being happy, he's still trying to save his job after what happened with Thanos," Clint said darkly, knowing a lot of people weren't happy with the man. Ross had a lot of enemies, not to mention Bruce.  
  
Natasha nodded in agreement, as they went to break the news to Sophie and Grace.

* * *

Bucky carefully opened the door, and found Sophie sitting quietly in the room, looking quietly at him. He closed the door behind him and looked at Sophie.  
  
"You and your sister aren't going to be imprisoned in the Raft, Sophie." Bucky said carefully, trying not to frighten the young woman.  
  
Sophie looked at him with a guarded expression, she could tell that there was more that he was going to say. What was going to happen to her, and Grace.  
  
"The Home Secretary, Thaddeus Ross wants you and Grace to become members of the Avengers," He said quietly, hating that he was literally ruining this woman's life.  
  
"So, you and your team want me and my sister to join you all? I thought Ross wanted us thrown into the Raft?" Sophie questioned stunned, and silently relieved.  
  
"He does, but he won't be able to. He's too busy trying to save his ass, after what happened with Thanos. Everyone's blaming him, plus there's the fact he tried to steal Vibranium." Bucky explained quietly and took in a deep breath.  
  
"They've assigned me to watch over you and keep an eye on you." He added quietly, knowing she wouldn't be happy.  
  
Sophie said nothing to that, but she didn't feel frightened of Bucky. She could feel that he wouldn't hurt her and would help her.  
  
"What about Grace?" Sophie asked worriedly, anxious for her little sister and what would happen to her.  
  
Bucky took her left hand gently.


	5. Welcome To The Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky bonds with Sophie, and tells her about some of his history after HYDRA was exposed. Clint has a flashback, and makes a promise to Grace to help find her missing son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do not copy this story to any other sites, I have only published this story on FF, ao3 and on tumblr.

"She'll be with Clint Barton, another member of our team. Hawkeye."  
  
Sophie didn't recognize the man's name but Hawkeye she did know. The archer and spy who so often worked with Black Widow.  
  
"He's one whose children…" Sophie knew she really wasn't in the position to make demands. "Is he… a good guy?"  
  
Nodding, Bucky lightly squeezed her hands in his flesh one, trying to be encouraging. "He's a good guy. Steve and I trust him with our lives. So, does Natasha."  
  
Sophie shook her head. "I'm not trying to make it sound like that means nothing to me, but I don't really know any of you. She's the only family I've got."  
  
"You'll get to know us," he explained quietly. "You'll be part of our family. But you know Peter and like him."  
  
"Sorry," Sophie said, pulling her hand back and rising to pace in front of him. "What does all this mean? Do we become Avengers? What happens to our shop? Can we keep it? Do we lose it? Can we still live in our apartment? What about our cats?"  
  
She stopped, noticing that Bucky was just watching her. The emotions coming off him were sympathetic, kind. It was unexpected given who he was. Who he used to be anyway.  
  
"Did you sign up for this? Or were you… I mean…" She didn't know how to frame that question.  
  
"Left with no choice?" he finished for her. "Yeah, well, it depends on who you ask."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sophie wrung her hands as she stood before him.  
  
Bucky leaned forward, taking her hands in his to steady her. His dark blue eyes gazed up into hers. "Do you know any of my story?"  
  
Sophie nodded. She thought she knew a lot of it anyway.  
  
"I had been a brainwashed assassin for HYDRA for decades when Steve and Nat brought HYDRA down and exposed their infiltration into S.H.I.E.L.D. During all of that, he also managed to set me free," Bucky explained, willing her to listen and consider his words. "For the next couple of years, I was a fugitive, and that's not an easy life. I spent most of my time dodging Steve, trying to piece my life back together. When I was framed by Zemo for the bombing that killed the king of Wakanda, I didn't have any choice but to go with Steve. And he damned near tore the team apart. For me."  
  
Sophie's heart went out to him. She hadn't been through a thumbnail of what he had.  
  
"Somehow Steve and Tony were able to talk and work it out, to bring everyone back together to fight Thanos. Part of those negotiations was that I'd become an Avenger and I'd use my… abilities for good. So, would it have been my choice to be here?"  
  
He didn't answer the question, leaving her to draw her own conclusion. It wasn't that difficult.

"No, you didn't choose to be here. You wanted to be left alone in peace, didn't you?" She asked quietly, Bucky nodded silently and sighed quietly.  
  
"I was happy in Wakanda, I lived in a rural village and protected the villagers and their wildlife. The children call me the White Wolf, I prefer it to the Winter Soldier." He said finally, and Sophie understood what he had told her.  
  
Bucky hadn't had a choice in the negotiations, and he genuinely didn't want her and Grace to be hurt, or imprisoned.  
  
"I'm sorry, Bucky." Sophie said sadly, she was genuinely sorry that he had suffered all these hardships and swallowed.  
  
"Before I agree to this decision, what will happen to our apartment? Our shop, and pets?" She asked worriedly, genuinely worried.  
  
Their new landlord wasn't a pleasant man and was constantly raising the rent. They'd barely been able to pay this month's rent, and she dreaded next month's rent.  
  
"You'll be able to keep the shop, but I don't know about the apartment. Tony might know about that, but you can keep your pets." Bucky said comfortingly, Sophie felt slightly relieved at hearing this.  
  
"Thank you, Bucky. I agree to joining the Avengers, but can me and Grace at least get our possessions?" She asked quietly, Bucky nodded and guided her out of the room. She was grateful and smiled at seeing Reg and Paul charging towards her.  
  
The two black cats raced over, meowing softly and Sophie cuddled them both lovingly in her arms. Reg sniffed at Bucky's metal arm and swatted at it.  
  
"He's a sweet cat, very curious." He said amused, as they saw Grace's cats charge out of their pet carriers, and into the living room.

* * *

Clint had gone to get Grace, so she could be told the decision and see Sophie, when she raced to the pet carrier and saw he saw Lucky sniffing at the pet carrier. Grace stroked him, and the golden Labrador happily licked her as she opened the door. Cats ran out, including a fat, tabby and ginger cat with a massive stomach.  
  
"Hello, Custard." Grace said softly, crouching down and one of the cats had decided to play with Clint's shoelaces. He stroked the tabby cat, and he purred. He noticed that one of the cats was slightly wearier, and only went near Grace. It was a big fluffy black and white cat, allowing Grace to pick him up gently.  
  
"Clint, this is Tom. He's a bit shy of new people, but he loves this," Grace said softly, and made a little ball out of spider webbing for the cat to play with.  
  
Tom pulled at it, and happily chased it as the tuxedo cat followed after him curiously. Lucky was being snuggled, by a fluffy black and white cat.  
  
"Did you rescue all of these cats?" Clint asked impressed, a black cat with slightly bendy back legs prowled over with a purr.  
  
"Some of them are strays, Patch and Tom are strays along with Salem." Grace explained softly and swallowed.  
  
"What will happen to me and Sophie? Are we being imprisoned, or sent back home?" Grace asked wearily, holding Tom close.  
  
Clint looked at her properly.

"No, you're going to be Avengers."  
  
That got her attention. "What?"  
  
"Yeah, you'll be joining us here, Grace. Bucky's been assigned to Sophie and I've been assigned to you. You'll be trained as Avengers, go out with us on missions," he explained. "But you can keep these guys and your shop. It could have been worse."  
  
"Can we see each other?" Grace asked even as her head was spinning trying to take in everything. Be trained as Avengers? Her and Sophie? Well, Sophie would be just fine. Clumsy as Grace considered herself to be, she'd be killed early on. It was almost a sure thing.  
  
"Will Sophie be okay with him?" Grace didn't mean for her tone to sound as worried as it did.  
  
Clint nodded his understanding. "Hey, he's okay. Considering his history similar to your own, he and Nat will be good mentors for you guys. Help you fill in some of the blanks in your family's history, you know?"  
  
"No offense, but he's terrifying to look at," Grace admitted.  
  
"I get that," Clint said, chuckling. "You probably felt that way about me too at first."  
  
"No," Grace told him, keeping a straight face and watching him look at her in surprise.  
  
"No?" Clint asked. She didn't miss the way he pulled his shoulders back a little.  
  
After a moment, she couldn't help but grin.   
  
"You givin' me a hard time already and we haven't even gotten started?" Clint grinned at her, his blue eyes kind.  
  
"Maybe," Grace told him, setting Tom gently on his paws and trying not to grin.  
  
"I'm a little intimidating?" he teased.  
  
She had to laugh at that, missing the way he stared at her as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.   
  
Rising to her feet, Grace thought hard about their circumstances. "Clint, what if I can't do this?"  
  
"Can't do what?" He asked, moving a tiny bit closer.  
  
She motioned at him. "Be an Avenger. Like you? You know?"  
  
"Why can't you? You're… fit. You look fit. Healthy. Yeah, that. You're young, healthy enough," Clint stammered over his words a little, his gaze moving over her quickly.  
  
"Young, maybe. Healthy? Not like that," she said, huffing out a laugh. "I work in a bakery."  
  
Clint's expression sobered but wasn't less friendly. "Well, there may be a bit of a learning curve. I never said it was going to be easy. But we can work with you guys. Build you up. You're not in real trouble until you get to Steve. He forgets sometimes that not all of us are enhanced like he is. If you can make it through that…"  
  
"He really is Captain America, huh? He's that good?" Grace had to ask.  
  
Clint nodded. "Nat tries her best to corrupt him. Mostly, he's all that. Yeah."  
  
"They're together?"   
  
"Yep."  
  
"Okay, I just have one last question then," Grace was hesitant to ask. But she had to try. "Do you think… could you guys help me find my son."

"We'll help you in any way we can, Grace. We're not on the greatest terms with S.H.I.E.L.D. There's a lot of bad feeling between us, with everything that's happened." Clint explained quietly and took her right hand gently.  
  
"We'll help you, find your boy. I promise Grace." He said comfortingly, he wasn't going to give her false hope and he knew that she appreciated that.  
  
Grace smiled at him quietly, she appreciated his words and just wanted to find her son. If he was......dead, then at the very least she wanted to put him at rest. They could return to their apartment, so they could take their things, and Grace quickly went into her bedroom to pack up her belongings. The landlord wanted them gone by next Monday.  
  
She picked up a framed photo of Zach smiling at the camera, sitting on her lap with a happy smile on his face. It had been taken at his fourth birthday, and they'd had his birthday party at the Stark Children's Centre. She clutched it tightly and put it in plastic wrapping, so it wouldn't get damaged on the journey back to the compound. She wiped her eyes and took in a deep breath before gathering all her things and packing them into boxes.  
  
She'd miss this apartment but missed the apartment in Queens more than this one. Clint came in to help Grace pack up the last of her things and saw a bedroom that had been locked. She saw him looking and swallowed quietly.  
  
"That's Zach's bedroom, I haven't been able to go in there since he was taken away. His birthday's coming up, and I just feel numb inside," Grace whispered haunted, she walked towards it and opened the door.  
  
Clint saw the walls had been painted different colours, one wall was painted with pictures of dinosaurs that were roaming the land. The next wall showed marine life, and the third wall showed the sky, and a forest.  
  
"Zach loved animals, he wanted to be a vet." Grace said softly, and Clint saw the last wall depicted space, with different planets on the wall with glow in the dark stars glowing.  
  
Clint watched as she picked up Zach's clothes, and began putting them away in cardboard boxes. She was trying to be strong, but he quietly walked over and helped her pack.  
  
Just like Natasha had helped him pack away Cooper and Lila's clothes, and possessions.

* * *

_14th of June 2019.  
  
Clint carefully began packing Copper and Lila's things in cardboard boxes, Natasha helping him while the rest of the team packed up what he wanted.  
  
He couldn't stay at this farmhouse, not after everything that had happened......what Laura had done. Cooper and Lila had been buried next to his mother, and brother two days ago. At least he could visit them, regularly.  
  
He looked at Cooper's artistic drawings, tears stinging his eyes but all he could feel now was a dark, malevolent sense of hatred and rage towards the woman who had once been his wife.  
  
He thought back to Tony's joke, when he'd taken them here after the fight with Ultron. Tony jokingly saying that Laura was a secret spy.  
  
Oh, the fucking irony._

_He glanced out the window, watching Steve, Bucky and Tony loading boxes into the back of the U-Haul. If it had been left to him, he would have just boxed up anything that had belonged to his kids and struck a match for the rest of it. Burn down what he knew was all a lie now.  
  
Nat talked him out of it, convincing him to sell the house, donate the items in the house he didn't want to keep which was most of it.  
  
"You okay?" Nat had place a hand on his shoulder, trying to lend him comfort.  
  
"As much as I'm going to be," he told her, trying not to shake in rage as he stood in the small room where he'd come to read to his son at night, to tuck him into bed. "I just want to know why. Of what benefit was this – all of this – to HYDRA? To have some woman approach me, seduce me, create a life with me that included innocent children. I just… Why? Why go that far?"  
  
"You may never get an answer for that though I hope you do," Nat hugged him from behind. "The thing that scares me is how many other families are out there like this? Some unwitting person, living like you did. For them to have Laura go so far as that makes you think there are other cases out there. Many of them. Gathering intel."  
  
"Even one of the Avengers," Clint raked a hand through his hair, sank down on Cooper's bed. "I never had a fucking clue. I believed all of it, everything she told me."  
  
"Clint, there's no way you could have known," Nat sat next to him.  
  
"With all the missions we've been on, what we've seen and done, you'd think I would have noticed something. Something, Nat," he was almost shouting. "And I still could have lived with it all if I could have just kept them."  
  
"We'll find her," Nat promised him. "We'll stop her, and we'll stop Rumlow."  
  
Yes, they would. Laura wasn't going to get away with any of it. If it took his last breath, he'd make sure of that. And Rumlow, well, he knew he wasn't alone in wanting to put that bastard down.   
  
Nat had held onto him as he'd cried again for the two, small people in the world he'd loved the most. Nat felt his loss, she'd loved them too. More than their mother had. Nat had helped him finish gathering his children's things, had helped him pull himself together enough to thank the team for their help and leave the place that had once been his heaven._

* * *

Clint knew just by looking at Grace, she genuinely understood what he had gone through and knew what it felt like. But Grace had it worse, she didn't know if her son was alive or had died.  
  
"I wanted to thank you, for being in that dream and letting me see Cooper and Lila. It means a lot to me," Clint said quietly, genuinely grateful.  
  
Grace gave him a gentle smile, and she started packing Zach's stuffed animals. She sniffled, when she saw the white fluffy teddy bear that she'd gotten for her baby boy, when he'd been born.  
  
"You don't have to thank me, Clint. I didn't do anything, your children just wanted to see you." Grace said softly, she finished packing up all of Zach's things.  
  
Clint saw the bookshelves had been cleared away, and now they were empty. He couldn't help but think Grace was stronger than she looked, most women wouldn't have kept the baby, but she had.  
  
He helped her carry the boxes outside and saw that the neighbours were helping as well. Clint saw a few of the young women, were hugging Grace and Sophie tightly.  
  
"We'll miss you two, dorohotsinni divchynky." A young woman said sadly, and she genuinely meant it. Grace hugged her, and Sophie was comforting a young woman. It dawned on Clint, that these neighbours were probably like extended family to Sophie and Grace. And that made him even more pissed at Ross, and Gonzalez.

* * *

Bucky helped Sophie pack away the delicate objects in the living room, which were matryoshka dolls lined up on the mantelpiece, next to porcelain dolls in a glass cupboard.  
  
"Papa was always good at carpentry, he used to make furniture and a dollhouse for me and Grace," Sophie said sadly, looking at the framed photo of her father.  
  
Bucky looked at her quietly, and decided to speak.  
  
"I think that your parents genuinely loved each other, Sophie. Your father wasn’t like the other Winter Soldiers, who were sadistic, and violent." Bucky said quietly, trying to console her.  
  
Sophie looked at him intently.

"What about you?"  
  
"What about me?" He asked quietly.  
  
"You were a Winter Soldier," she pointed out. "You were the Winter Soldier. Were you sadistic and violent?"  
  
Bucky's gaze dropped to the floor as he considered how he wanted to answer that. The thing he knew he wouldn't do is lie to her about anything.  
  
"I was," he admitted. "I executed people on HYDRA's orders for decades. I killed people, probably many innocent people, in brutal ways. But my actions were carefully controlled. The Winter Soldier was HYDRA's creation. That's not who I was. Those actions weren't mine. I still have to live with that knowledge, those memories when they show up. I guess where I'm going is that was how life was for your father too for a time. But that's not who he was. I'm not sure how all of that with your parents went but… somewhere during it all, he decided he cared. He cared enough to take care of her, to take care of you and your sister. He was strong."  
  
Sophie blinked back tears, going back to work wrapping the dolls in newspaper. "Thank you. For that. I mean it. Our lives haven't been easy. but we always cared about each other, you know? To have someone rip you out of that life and tell you such… ugly things about your family, to rip apart everything you thought you knew about your own existence? It's just a lot to take."  
  
"I'm sorry it was given to us to have to tell you all of that." He wanted to help her wrap the dolls, thinking if he primarily used his flesh hand that maybe he could pull it off. "Now that you're part of the team, we can help keep you two safe. Tony, Steve, and Nick Fury run the show. They can help us shield from anything else Ross thinks up."  
  
"I never want to see that asshole for the rest of my life," she said vehemently.   
  
Placing another doll in the box, she started to get another, noticing he was very awkwardly lifting another one that had long red ringlets for hair. She fought a smile as she watched him pick up some newspaper and left him to it, fighting a smile.  
  
"So how is this going to work?" Sophie asked. "Training? Going out on missions? I mean, do you think we can do it?"  
  
Frustrated as he was, he managed to wrap the red-haired doll up in two very wrinkled papers. But it worked. He glanced up at her as he added the doll to her box. His eyes were so blue.  
  
"Given what I saw when we came into your apartment that day?" he asked with a smirk. "Yeah, I think you can do it."  
  
"You broke into our apartment," Sophie reminded him, smiling.   
  
"The balcony door was wide open. Steve came to the front door."  
  
"Why didn't you?"  
  
"Come to the front door? That's not my style, doll." He started on another doll, this one going slightly better. "You took my rifle."  
  
"Yes, I did," Sophie said as they worked at packing.  
  
"Can you climb up a wall like your sister did?" He wanted to know.  
  
"Yeah, the webbing lets us climb, stick to... stuff."  
  
"So how does that work?" Bucky asked her, placing his second wrapped doll in the box.   
  
"Same way as Peter's I'm sure," she said without pause. When she saw he was still waiting for an answer, she stopped. "You've never asked him."  
  
"Kid's usually up Tony's ass," Bucky told her. "I don't think I've actually had a conversation with him. Always did wonder though."


	6. Nightmares In The Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie and Grace uncover a shocking family secret with the help of Natasha, as they move into the Avengers compound. Clint, Bucky, Bruce and Steve comfort Tony in the aftermath of his and Pepper's divorce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like the themes in this story, then don't read. I am not disturbed.

"Here, I'll show you both how we climb up the wall." Sophie said amused, she carefully placed the doll down and placed her fingertips on the wall. She smiled, and was able to stick to the ceiling with her blonde hair falling down around her pale face. Bucky looked amazed, and Steve looked impressed.  
  
"Holy shit, that's incredible." Bucky said amazed, Sophie grinned at him before gracefully dropping down on the floor. She tied her hair up in a ponytail, and started packing up the dolls carefully.  
  
"My mama said that we started climbing the walls, when I was able to walk and so was Gracie. Our mama, she was a good mother and a good woman," Sophie said softly, as they finished wrapping up the dolls.  
  
"She loved you both very much, and willingly risked getting killed just so that you and Grace could be safe. I believe she was a good mother, Sophie." Bucky said honestly, Sophie nodded.  
  
Even if her mother and father had gotten together in terrible circumstances, she knew they had loved each well and truly. She knew they'd been married.  
  
Sophie smiled softly, and carried the dolls that were wrapped in newspaper to the living room. Grace had already sorted out the bathroom, her bedroom and now there was just the kitchen and.....  
  
Mom and Dad’s, bedroom.

* * *

Grace couldn't help but feel a sense of grief, when she and Sophie entered their parent’s bedroom. Framed photographs stood on the large chest of drawers, with a family photograph of them. She missed them so much, she helped Sophie carefully put their father's clothes in a box for the charity shop. Someone else could use these clothes, and it was what their father would've wanted.  
  
She folded them up, and placed them in boxes while Clint, Bucky, Steve and Tony helped pack away everything in the U-Haul truck, Natasha was helping them.  
  
"Did you know our mother?" Grace asked hesitantly, Sophie looked up curiously as they both looked at Natasha who smiled sadly.  
  
"I never met her, but I did hear of her while I was working for the Red Room. She was a vicious, fierce and dedicated young woman who often partnered up with the Winter Soldier," Natasha explained quietly, and Sophie spoke.  
  
"They hurt you, didn't they? The Red Room?" She asked quietly, she could sense Natasha's emotions which were a combination of pain, anger and torment.  
  
Natasha nodded mutely, she didn't have to say the words to the two sisters who both seemed to understand her pain.  
  
"I don't know much about my family, I was taken in by the Red Room, when I was five years old. I'm actually older than I look, I was born in the 1950's during the Soviet era." Natasha said grimly.  
  
"They experimented on you? When you were just a little girl?" Grace asked appalled, she knew the Soviet Union had done horrific things but experimenting on children?   
  
"They did worse to Bucky." Natasha said sadly, thinking of what the KGB and HYDRA had done to Bucky. They had turned him into the ultimate killing machine, to take down their enemies with no mercy.  
  
Sophie shuddered, she felt horrified for Bucky and Natasha as she began cleaning out the drawers when she found a file.  
  
 _'Project Widow Program.'  
_  
"What the hell is this about?" She asked wearily, looking at the file in her hands. It had turned yellow with age, but the writing was in a mixture of Russian, Romanian and English.

Natasha came up behind her, glancing over her shoulder. "What's that?"  
  
Sophie carried the thick, bulky file filled with photographs, typed and handwritten pages over to the bed, the spy and her sister joining her there as she opened the file, began to look through it.  
  
It started with photographs and vital statics on their mother starting from her childhood in the Red Room all the way into her teenaged years. One of the last entries was missing on the Red Room records.  
  
"Stop," Natasha told her, one slim finger pointing to that blank space.  
  
"What?" Grace asked her. "Something's missing?"  
  
"A big something," Natasha told them. "One of the final preparations in a girl's Red Room training is… sterilization. But that doesn't appear in your mother's record, obviously. Does it say what happened there?"  
  
Natasha took over then, gently scanning pages of handwritten notes they'd already glanced at. Sophie struggled to keep up, able to read most of it. Their mother had been an exemplary student. They had been interested in her in particular because of her athleticism. They'd admired her long slender limbs, her above average flexibility.  
  
More notes, these showing that fertility test had been performed on their mother, then she'd been given fertility drugs. More notes followed, these on prospective fathers from the Winter Soldier program. Their father's name was circled amongst several other names listed. One was crossed off, no name, just the word 'Asset' with a notation that they'd disqualified him because of age, and they felt it could degrade the quality of any resultant foetus.  
  
"Asset?" Sophie asked. "What does that mean?"  
  
Natasha's green eyes were grave when they met hers. "They called Bucky Asset. I believe this might have been in reference to him."  
  
Sophie's heart dropped. To think Bucky could have been her father.  
  
They continued scanning the notes. The next page started documenting a viable pregnancy.   
  
_‘Me?’_ Sophie wondered.  
  
But her eyes widened as she continued to read. No, she couldn't be reading what she thought she was.  
  
Natasha's hand slowly slipped into hers as tears filled her eyes. They'd done experiments, on the foetuses in the womb, injecting them with the venom of seven different spiders. Of course, they had. They knew their powers had come from somewhere. Still, to think of something as barbaric as experimenting on babies before they were ever born.  
  
Grace's eyes shined along with hers. Sophie herself couldn't imagine how Grace felt reading all that. She'd never had a child as Grace had.   
  
The bastards had just used their parents. They'd forced a child on her mother, experimented on her and her child as if they were not even human. She can't imagine what a terrifying experience that had to have been for their mother. Maybe even their father.  
  
"There were two," Grace said out loud. "Two foetuses?"  
  
Natasha nodded. "Twins. Girls."  
  
Sophie swallowed hard. Wait. Their mother had a pregnancy before her? Twins? What had happened to them?  
  
More notes detailing the impact of the venom on the baby girls. One grew stronger by the day. As she grew in strength, her twin weakened, faded. Before the end of the second trimester, the twin had died. Their mother had carried both, likely knowing one of her babies had died, because of the experiments they'd done.  
  
It was unimaginably cruel.  
  
She'd gone into labor early, at thirty-three weeks. The deceased twin had been born first, named Ilona and her heart sank to think there was a sister she never met, would never know.  
  
The live twin had been remarkably healthy.  
  
Her name had been Sophie Vera.

She struggled to comprehend what she was reading, she'd had an older twin sister called Ilona who'd died without ever knowing her. The knowledge that she'd had a sister upset her, but she could only imagine how her mother and father must have felt.  
  
They'd been forced into this horrifying ordeal by HYDRA, and the Red Room. Had that been why Sophie was five years old, when Grace had been born?  
  
"Does it.... it say where they buried Ilona?" She asked quietly, her voice thick with emotion. This was becoming too much for her, she felt like crying.  
  
Natasha shook her wordlessly, it made no other mention of Ilona or where she had even been buried. It just simply went onto the pregnancy about Grace, and how it had progressed.  
  
"I'm sorry Sophie, and Grace." Natasha said gently, the two sisters nodded numbly and packed away the last of their things. Sophie simply wanted to get out of here.  
  
"Let's just get back to the compound." 

* * *

Grace sat beside Clint as they drove back to the compound, he'd sensed she was upset and she wiped her eyes. She felt upset, angry and lost.  
  
Everything about her life was a lie.  
  
"Sophie had an older twin sister, Clint. I had another sister, one that was never talked about and a brother." She said suddenly, causing Clint to look at her quietly.  
  
He knew that she'd had a brother, but Sophie had a twin sister?   
  
"I'm sorry Grace." He said quietly, Grace laughed bitterly and wiped away a few tears from her eyes. She didn't know what was a lie, and what wasn't anymore.  
  
"I'm angry Clint, angry at my parents for keeping this from me and Sophie. I'm angry at the Red Room for treating my mother like she wasn’t nothing more, than a breeding machine and incubator. I'm mad at HYDRA for turning my father into an assassin, and I'm just upset!" She said bitterly, her eyes flashing red.  
  
Clint quietly took her hand, and she held it tightly. He knew that sense of anger all too well, he felt it now every day.  
  
"I know that anger, Grace. It's what keeps me going, I'm not giving up until I find Laura and make her suffer for what she did to my son and daughter," Clint said darkly, his grey eyes hard as steel.  
  
"You loved her, didn't you?" Grace asked quietly, Clint was silent for a while before he nodded silently in answer to her question.  
  
"I loved her, and I thought she loved me. I'm just now realising, that all of it was a lie. A facade, she never loved me or our children. The only thing I've got of Cooper and Lila, is their photos and memories." He explained finally, and Grace squeezed his hand tightly again.  
  
The two of them sat silently as Clint drove the truck, both of them thinking of their children who'd they'd lost. Grace couldn't help but feel that Clint understood her grief, sorrow and anger over Zach.  
  
It was like he was comforting her, in his own silent way. As if, he understood her feelings.  
  
They reached the compound, and Clint turned off the engine as they began unloading the U-Haul. He saw Tony come out with none of his usual sarcasm, he was looking at a file.  
  
"Tony, is everything ok?" Steve asked concerned, approaching the billionaire genius who shook his head.  
  
"Pepper's divorcing me, says she can't handle this kind of life with me anymore. She believes I broke my promise," Tony said humourlessly.  
  
No one knew what to say, Peter and Bruce looked like they wanted to say comforting words but Tony headed inside quickly. Sophie, and Grace looked shocked.  
  
"I thought Pepper loved him." Grace said shocked, Clint sighed.

"Me too," Clint told her. "I'll be right back. Steve?"

* * *

Clint tipped his head in the direction of the compound and Steve nodded, apparently wanting to check in on their friend too. Bucky followed them. They found Tony in his office, the file on his desk, and his head in his hands.   
  
"Tony?" Steve asked quietly. The three of them walked in, closed the door.  
  
Tony lifted his head, eyes shiny with tears. Clint couldn't remember ever seeing his arrogant friend so destroyed. Ever.  
  
"Is this a sure thing?" Steve tried. "You guys have fought before…"  
  
"It's over, Steve," Tony whispered, swiping at his face with the back of his hand. "Nothing I can do. I can't fight her anymore. She wants me to put all of this aside to keep my promises to her. The world won't let me put it down. You know what the funny thing is? I was fighting for her too."  
  
"Tony, if she really loves you, she'll understand," Steve told him. "She wouldn't ask this."  
  
"Then I guess… she doesn't love me," Tony muttered.  
  
"She does," Steve said. "I believe that."  
  
"Yeah," Clint snorted, bitterness never far from his surface. "Unless you've got a gal who's in this life with us, like Steve has Nat, love doesn't work here. Even if it was once there. Or you thought it was. Trust me."  
  
Steve winced at his words. Tony's expression sobered.  
  
"You know what? You've got a point, Clint. You're right." Shaking his head, he stood up. "I shouldn't complain after what you've been through."  
  
"I didn't mean that," Clint told him. "Just seems, looking around, not many of us are doing so hot where love's concerned."  
  
Bucky shook his head, having nothing to contribute.  
  
"What am I going to do?" Tony said to no one in particular. "I can't really remember a time when Pepper wasn't there in my life. What happens now?"  
  
"You stay busy," Clint told him, "and you stay focused. That's how I get by. Speaking of, ah, I could really use your expertise with something. When it's a good time."  
  
Tony looked exhausted, but his eyebrows raised. "My expertise. Meaning I'm an expert. I like that. What can I help with?"  
  
Clint's gaze met Bucky's. He already knew what Clint was going to ask.   
  
"We found some more information about the sisters," Steve started, "I'll get you the file with the intel. The file revealed more about their origins and we'll talk about that later."  
  
"I need you to help me track down Grace's son, Zach," Clint told Tony. "On top of everything else going on, she deserves to know what happened to him. Can you help us?"  
  
Tony's gaze softened. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do some tracing. Get me everything you can, okay?"  
  
Clint nodded. "On it."  
  
"Did you clear their apartment?" Tony asked quietly.  
  
Steve jerked his thumb towards the front of the compound. "All out front."  
  
"What about all the cats?" Tony glanced at each one of them in turn. "They're going to a shelter? Or some nice cat lady's house, right?"  
  
Bucky and Clint exchanged another look.  
  
"All things considered," Bucky said carefully, "they can keep them, can't they?"  
  
Tony barked out a laugh. "If it was one? Maybe. But there's how many?"  
  
"Tony, he's right. Do you really want to upset two emotionally unstable women with Peter's abilities?" Clint threw in there, trying to keep things light.  
  
"They could always ask me nicely," Tony's usually snark made an appearance.  
  
"Hey," Bucky took a step in his direction, drawing a curious glance from Tony.  
  
"Someone has a crush," Tony teased.  
  
Bucky glared, Clint snickered. Steve did what he always did, putting a hand on Bucky's shoulder to stay him.  
  
"We'll talk to them about it, Tony, okay? Can we agree the cats can stay for now?" Steve reasoned.  
  
"Temporarily," Tony warned though he didn't look all that angry. He seemed to sense it was a battle he wouldn't win.  
  
"Thank you," Steve said. "We'll get to move the girls in."  
  
The line was meant to mark their exit. They hadn't made it to his office door when Tony's voice stopped them.  
  
"What do you think, guys," Tony began, "about the two of them? Are they going to fit in here? Conform to what we do?"  
  
"They're going to do just fine." Steve looked him in the eye. "They just need some time to recover and to train."  
  
Tony nodded, waved them on.  
  
As soon as the door was closed behind them, Steve shot the two of them a look. "The cats might be a problem."  
  
Bucky still looked angry about it all, but Clint huffed a laugh. "He has anything else to say about it, I think we should send the girls in there to convince him. I don't think he'd enjoy that as much as he thinks he would."  
  
He could tell Bucky was fighting a smile at that.  
  
"Come on," Steve motioned them to where the girls waited at the truck with Natasha. Clint offered Grace a small smile, one that she returned as they all got into their vehicles before driving back to the Avengers Compound.  
  
"Is Tony alright?" Grace asked quietly, Clint shook his head grimly and sighed quietly as he looked at the young woman. She was sitting beside him, in the passenger seat.  
  
"He and Pepper are getting divorced, she can't handle him being Iron Man. So, they're getting divorced after a year of marriage." Clint said quietly finally, feeling sympathy for the billionaire genius.  
  
Grace felt deeply saddened for Tony, she knew the man was arrogant but he had a heart of gold. Tony didn't deserve to be treated like this, let alone by his own wife.

* * *

The drive to the Avengers Compound was silent, as they reached the building and Sophie was shown to her bedroom that would be hers. It was a large room, with a view of the front lawn and the mountains in the distance. She smiled, and began carrying in her belongings.  
  
Bucky helped her carry in some of the heavier cardboard boxes, and they placed them on the floor. Sophie smiled at him in thanks, before she looked at the light purple walls, her kind of colour.  
  
"Thank you, Bucky." She said softly, smiling when she saw Reg running over, his silky black fur shining in the sunlight. The cat meowed affectionately, and rubbed himself against her before prowling towards Bucky.  
  
He started climbing up Bucky's jeans, purring and Bucky picked him up gently as the cat purred softly at him.  
  
"He likes you, he's not very fond of strangers," She said amused, seeing Reg curl against Bucky's shoulder happily. Bucky smiled, and scratched Reg under the chin.  
  
The cat purred like a motorcycle engine.  
  
"I've always liked animals, but they were for the rich folk." Bucky said quietly, rubbing Reg's belly softly. Sophie smiled, and took out the framed photos.  
  
Five of them with Zach at his birthday parties, one was of her and Grace doing ballet. The rest were with their parents, and one of them as a family.  
  
Bucky smiled at the photos, and carefully picked up the framed photograph of Sophie and Grace with a little blonde haired boy, smiling happily into the camera.  
  
"Was this recent?" He asked quietly, Sophie nodded and wiped her eyes as she looked at the framed photo of them in happier times together.  
  
"Three years ago, it was at Avengers Theme Park and Zach loved that amusement park. Especially the Adventures of the Howling Commandos Ride, he adored it." She said softly, when they heard raised voices yelling.  
  
"Oh shit, that's not good." Bucky said grimly, and they both cautiously entered the living room to see Tony and Pepper yelling at each other.  
  
"Why won't you give up on this life, Tony?!" Pepper asked frustrated, Tony glared at her and Sophie winced at the influx of negative emotions hitting her.  
  
"Because Pepper, Iron Man is a part of me. I can't stop being Iron Man, and the team needs me, Peter needs me." Tony explained calmly, trying not to lose his temper.  
  
Pepper looked at him with a betrayed expression.  
  
"So you prefer them, to me? I'm your wife, Tony! Your damn wife, and this is how you treat me?" Pepper asked enraged, screaming at the end.  
  
Bucky saw Sophie, Peter and Grace look at her tone of voice and decided to speak up.  
  
"Pepper, lower your voice please." He said calmly, and Pepper shocked everyone by slapping him hard across the face. Sophie gasped, and rushed over.


	7. Small Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint trains Grace, and learns about a surprising skill she has, while Bucky and Natasha mentor Sophie. The team worry about Tony, in the aftermath of his divorce with Pepper. A nightmare causes Clint to seek comfort in Grace, who shares her own sorrow and grief for her missing son, Zach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not copy my story to another site, and no rude comments.

"What the hell, Pepper?" Natasha asked shocked, she and Steve had been alerted by Sam and Sharon that Tony and Pepper were arguing.  
  
This was not a good day.

* * *

Grace had been shown around the compound by Wanda, and she'd decided to head to the gymnasium where the gymnastic equipment was kept. She'd always loved gymnastics, their mother would take them to their nearest artistic gymnastics club where they could train. She smiled at the memory, and looked at herself.  
  
She'd changed into a black sports bra with a black tank top over it, and a pair of black cropped leggings. She did a few warm ups, before playing the song. "Pulmon" by Bajofondo/ "Ironside" by Quincy Jones/ "Grand Guignol" by Bajofondo. She took in a few deep breaths, before the music played and she did her first tumble which was a double Arabian. She couldn't help but smile.

It'd been a while, but the landing wasn't bad. She did an easier series, aerial cartwheel, round off, back tuck and couldn't help but dance a little when she stuck the landing perfectly. After another couple of series, she went back to the double Arabian, much happier with that once since she'd warmed up.  
  
"Wow."  
  
She barely heard Clint over the music until he moved closer. "Not bad. With moves like that, you'll give Nat a run for her money," he said with a grin. He'd changed into t-shirt and shorts, showing off his muscular arms and legs to his advantage.  
  
"I don't know about that." Grace felt her face warm at his praise.  
  
"Let's see what else you can do," he told her, dropping back into a fighting stance.  
  
Grace supposed she was supposed to feel threatened and she did feel a little intimidated – until he winked at her and broke out into a little bit of a dance which had her laughing.  
  
"Better," he said when she seemed to relax. Then he returned to the stance. "Now, you ready?"  
  
Grace nodded. "Come at me."  
  
Clint did just that, coming at her to see what she could do. She blocked the first punch she threw then levelled a kick at his ribs. Clint winced but weathered it, aiming another swing at her which she dodged, but then he caught her with a roundhouse kick and knocked her back.  
  
Grace shifted her weight from her hands back to her legs to kick up and she sprung at Clint, going back to her martial arts moves to land a series of blows that he seemed to struggle with and she actually drove him back a little.  
  
He smirked at her. "Now you're talking. Again."  
  
They sparred for several minutes like that until Clint started to taunt her -- in a good-natured way. After one sequence he strutted, no other way to describe it, over to the wall, grabbing a wooden katana they used for practice.  
  
"What are you going to do now?" He asked, challenging her and swinging it to show off his expertise with it.  
  
Clint then headed in her direction, meaning business. Grace was proud of herself for being able to weave around his swings, only getting grazed by the wooden weapon once. On the last swing, she realized he'd backed her up against the gymnasium wall. Grace flipped back, clinging to the wall and sending out a web to jerk the weapon out of his hand and into hers.  
  
The sound clapping drew her attention to the opposite side of the room where Steve watched from the doorway.  
  
"Not bad," he told Grace, moving closer. "You hold yourself well."  
  
Clint nodded. "She's not going to be hard to train. She already moves a lot like Nat. We just need to do some fine-tuning."

"I'm not gonna like what this training is, am I?" Grace asked amused, Clint laughed and Steve smiled before he went to check on Bucky and Sophie who had come into the gymnasium.  
  
"It's going to a workout, we do it with Peter to keep all of the team fit and quick on their feet." Clint explained to her, as they went to a part of the gymnasium on fighting mats.  
  
Grace nodded in understanding, and watched him as he taught her one of the martial arts, that he and the rest of the team would be teaching her and Sophie. She had a good feeling her muscles would be aching like hell, after this rigours workout. But she did need to learn these different fighting techniques, and Clint was a good teacher.

* * *

Sophie had been sweating by the time Bucky and she had finished training, he'd been fighting her on the training mats. She could feel beads of sweat dripping down her back, and took a sip of her bottled water.  
  
She walked over to the uneven bars, and did a glide to kip for her mount before doing a seat circle backwards for a pirouette. She then did a stalder backwards with half turn to reverse/L-grip, hearing Grace cheering for her.  
  
This was bringing back happy memories of her childhood, when she and Grace would go to gymnastics while their parents were busy, and would make friends.  
  
She then took in a deep breath, and did the Endo, with a half turn. Sophie then did a handstand and then jumped to the lower bar again. She could feel the adrenaline burning through her, like fire.  
  
She then did a piked stalder with half turn, to a regular grip.  
  
For her release moves, she did a free straddle over the high bar with a half turn. She could hear Grace cheering for her, with Peter yelling out encouragement.  
  
She then did a layout Geigner, feeling the wind blow on her face, without any hesitation, she did a cast with salto forward straddled.   
  
She could hear someone cheering.  
  
"Holy shit, she and Grace are like Natasha when it comes to gymnastics, ballet and dance," Tony said dumbfounded, and awe in his voice.  
  
Sophie took in a deep breath, and performed the stalder to piked reverse hecht, over the high bar. She felt completely at ease doing this, like nothing could hurt her.  
  
She did the toe-on to layout reverse hecht, over the high bar and did two handstands and another pirouette. She then did the stalder with grip change to the low bar, she felt like someone was recording her training session.  
  
Not that she minded.  
  
She then did the Shaposhnikova with half turn, and for her dismount she did the salto backwards straight with a twist, hearing people cheer.

* * *

Bucky watched in amazement as Sophie effortlessly performed uneven bar moves, and reminded him strongly of soviet gymnasts, that he'd seen. He clapped with the others, as she performed her dismount.  
  
She offered them all a shy smile, as Grace and Peter came over to compliment her. He could tell she was shy, but also happy.  
  
"Damn, she's good. You better watch yourself, Romanoff." Tony joked, Natasha looked at him in amusement.

"We had similar backgrounds," Nat said with a smirk. "I think I'll work with Bucky and Clint in their training. I have a few moves that I can teach them."  
  
Bucky had to grin at that. "You do."  
  
"You sure you're good with this, Tin Man?" Tony asked Bucky, but his usual snark wasn't there.   
  
He nodded. In truth, he was concerned as he watched Sophie embrace her sister, happily chat with Peter for a moment. Sophie was beautiful and thankfully not as much a broken mess as he himself was. But given her parents' stories and the things they'd kept hidden from their daughters, they watched their world darken a little each day with each new discovery.  
  
Bucky was surprised he'd been entrusted with Sophie's training. He knew Steve had been pleased and likely had everything to do with it, wanting to build his confidence in his ability to do good. But what if he failed her? What if they lost her because of something he failed to teach her?   
  
And why the hell did she have to look at him as she did? The contempt, the tolerance he read in most people's faces when he encountered them? That he could handle. He knew where he'd been and what he'd done and that was always going to be a part of him. The people here, this team, the kindness and acceptance he'd earned from most of them, even Tony Stark himself, evened it all out.  
  
Sophie's gaze on him? She looked at him like he was sort of hero, someone to admire. What had he done to earn that? Particularly from someone who was anything but trusting and naïve. While there was pressure to not let the team down after they'd given him this task, it was nothing compared to the trust he read in those gentle eyes. Trust he'd not earned.  
  
After everything he'd been through, letting down this one broken woman just might be the thing that finally tore him down.  
  
"He's got this," Steve said reaching them, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "But yeah, it makes sense for you to help out, Nat. Good call."  
  
Tony nodded, heading off towards the weights. "Good luck, kids."  
  
"Tony's worrying me," Nat told him and Steve, shaking her head. "He's almost nice. I just don't know what to do with him like this."  
  
Steve hummed his agreement. "I know. I hope he's going to be okay. I just can't believe Pepper left him like that."  
  
"She doesn't deserve him then," Sophie said joining their group. "I'm sure it's difficult to worry about all of the dangers he faces. But you'd think she would have been proud of him. Supportive."  
  
"Agreed," Nat told her. Shaking it off, Nat put her hand on Sophie's shoulder, steering her between herself and Bucky. "You up for a little more training today?"  
  
Sophie grinned, shrugged. "I'll be feeling it tomorrow but sure. Why not?"  
  
"Good attitude," Nat told her. "Given what I've seen so far today, I'm going to show you something new. You game?"  
  
Sophie looked intrigued and just a little worried. When she glanced at Bucky, he nodded his approval. He had a feeling he knew what Nat was about to do.  
  
Stepping around Sophie, Nat took on a fighting stance and Bucky stepped up. Nat did just what he thought she was going to do, she got in a couple of shots then used her scissor takedown on him which he allowed. Taking a knee as Nat finished the move, Bucky glanced back to see that Sophie was very interested in this.   
  
The fact that Grace and Peter watched with Steve off to the side showed she wasn't alone. They went through the sequence with Sophie, both Nat and Bucky correcting her form here and there, but it didn't take a lot. Still, when Nat prompted her to run through it with Bucky, Sophie hesitated. He understood why but he didn't want her afraid of him.  
  
"It's okay," Bucky told her, "It's not like you're going to be able to hurt me, doll."  
  
Sophie's demeanour shifted from intimidation to determination at that, showing him a motivator to use for her. He'd challenged her and if he knew anything about her so far, it was that she was very proud.  
  
Dropping into her stance, Sophie stared him down and he was pleased with that. She hit him hard, which was also good, managing to get her form correct and even pulling him off balance. He could've played along and gone down, but something told him it would be a mistake. She wouldn't want him to help her.  
  
When Sophie pulled away, her jaw was locked. "Can I try that again?"  
  
Nat nodded as if she expected no less. Bucky waited. Again, she hit hard and fast. The second time was even better.  
  
After several tries, she showed real promise. Nat quirked a brow at Bucky when Sophie decided she'd had enough for one day.   
  
"You did well," he told her.  
  
"I did okay." Sophie was clearly not happy with it.  
  
"It takes time to master," Nat told her. "You'll get there. Bucky's not easy to take down."  
  
"I know," Sophie smirked at him over her shoulder.  
  
Oh, that shouldn't have messed with his insides as it did.  
  
"Shit!" Peter shrieked from the mat next to them. They watched Grace execute the same move, taking Peter down easily to the mat.  
Clint was nearly doubled over laughing and Steve cracked up as Peter tried to jump back up before anyone saw.  
  
"Not bad," Nat told her. "I need to make a couple of adjustments but nicely done, Grace."  
  
Peter's face flushed red. "No fair!" He told her laughing. "I didn't know you were going to do... that!"  
  
"You've never had someone use that move on you?" Nat asked him.  
  
Peter shook his head. "Not so far."  
  
"Shouldn't you learn how to deal with it?" Clint threw in.  
  
Peter looked from Clint to Nat and back again. "I guess but…"  
  
Nat looked like she was going to head for Peter who put out a hand. "Nope! Not today."  
  
They all laughed as he sprinted out of the gym, nearly running Tony down as he headed out.

"Shower up, then we'll cook dinner for tonight. It's been a long day, and we'll continue training in the morning," Steve said amused, everyone nodded and headed to their bedroom to wash up.

* * *

Clint threw his t - shirt and shorts into the washing machine, before heading to the bathroom. He turned on the hot water, and sighed in relief as the water soothed his aching muscles. He felt impressed by Grace, she'd been fearless during the training session today. And he'd been impressed by her fighting against him, she was a tough young woman.  
  
He washed his skin quickly, before washing his sweat soaked hair before turning off the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist, before opening the bathroom door. He sighed quietly, and dried himself before getting changed into a pair of fresh jeans, after putting his boxers on, and a grey t-shirt, before putting on some boots. Clint shut the bedroom door, and headed to the kitchen where the others were making dinner. Tonight's speciality was homemade southern fried chicken, with chips.  
  
Sophie and Grace had volunteered to make dessert, and Clint could smell it from where he was standing. It smelt amazing, and he walked to where Natasha was.  
  
"Damn, the food smells good." Clint said impressed, feeling his stomach growl in hunger, and causing Natasha to laugh.  
  
"They're making a Kiev cake, it should be done in two hours. They just want to make sure the meringue is fine, and they got the batter right." Natasha explained, as they saw the two women place the cake tin in the oven.  
  
"The chicken, and chips are done." Sam announced, and began serving out plates as everyone eagerly took the food, along with a drained looking Tony.  
  
They sat around the table enjoying the food, and Clint sat beside Grace as he tucked into his meal, with Lucky eating out of his dog bowl with a bowl of water beside him.  
  
That was when he saw the six cats all eating their food, all of their tails were swishing happily. Sam had given them, and Lucky the fatty bits of raw chicken which they were tearing into.  
  
It felt nice, like the team was a family as Scott Lang Skyped them from his place where he resided with his daughter, and Hope, not to mention Hank and Hope.

* * *

Pepper didn't feel guilty for leaving Tony, she'd signed the divorce papers and sent them to Tony for him to sign. She just couldn't cope with his life as an Avenger anymore. She exited Stark Tower, and was about to enter her car when she felt like someone was watching her. Dismissing it, she was about to unlock her car when a leather gloved hand slammed over her mouth.  
  
She felt her body going numb, when the man injected her with a needle. She felt her body slump against him, and the man calmly carried her to where an armoured van was.  
  
He strapped her in, and texted to the unknown number quickly.  
  
 _'Extraction successful.'  
_

* * *

Grace could hear someone falling off the bed, and rushed out of her bedroom to realise the noise was coming from Clint's bedroom. She cautiously entered, and saw nothing. That was until a rough, calloused hand grabbed her by the throat, pinning her to the wall. Thinking quickly, she kicked out and knocked him backwards.  
  
"Clint?" She asked wearily, she saw Clint looking wearily at her before his eyes refocused on her.  
  
"Grace....did I hurt you?" He asked worriedly, guilt in his voice and she shook her head as she saw he had bloody knuckles. She quietly went to the bathroom, and came out with a first aid kit.  
  
"No, you didn't hurt me. Believe me, I've had worse," Grace reassured softly, and Clint sighed quietly as she bathed his bloody, bruised knuckles.  
  
Lucky laid next to him, and he let the dog's presence comfort him, as Grace tended to his cuts.  
  
"I had a nightmare, I've been having them ever since....Laura revealed the truth. My mind's been a mess, since then." Clint admitted quietly, Grace looked at him quietly.  
  
"I have nightmares too, you know. You're not alone, I'm always back at that castle where HYDRA held me prisoner." She revealed hesitantly, causing Clint to realise something.  
  
She understood what he was going through.

Clint sat at the end of his bed, Lucky at his feet. Dropping his head in his hands, he exhaled.  
  
"Grace, I just… Why? That's the part I just don't understand." Blinking back tears, he flinched at first when she sat down next to him, wrapping a slim arm around his waist. "I'm a spy. I understand going undercover and gathering intel. I've done it for years. I just don't understand the lengths that they went to. That she went to. Why pretend to love me? For years? Why have children and pretend to love them?"  
  
"Clint," she whispered, smoothing her hand over his back. "I wish I had an answer for you. That's just unimaginably cruel."  
  
"It haunts me," his voice was about to break. "I loved them so much. I had no idea every time I was away, the danger I left them in. She could have killed them at any time, Grace. She could have hurt them. I…"  
  
"Don't torture yourself about that," she said gently. "What actually happened is bad enough."  
  
"I loved them. I loved them. Why couldn't I have kept them? Why?" Clint raised his head, tears sliding down his face. "I miss them, you know?"  
  
Grace's own eyes stung with tears. "I miss Zach too. I know how you feel."  
  
Clint sniffled. "There's a chance we might get Zach back," he told her. "I've… I hope you don't mind but I've asked Tony for his help. He's really good at tracking things and people down. Maybe…"  
  
"You did that for me?" She wanted to know.  
  
"Of course," he told her, trying to smile. "If he's out there, Tony will find him, Grace. Besides, he needs something to keep his mind occupied right now."  
  
Grace wrapped her arms around him, holding him close and for long moments they stayed there, enjoying the warmth and comfort of the other.  
  
"What Laura did," Grace finally said, "wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything you could have done, Clint. I know you won't let yourself believe that, but it's true. You're so hard on yourself."  
  
He huffed a laugh. "That's what Nat says. I try to remember that. I do. And I know I'll be able to process things better once some time has passed. And once I find her."  
  
"Laura?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"What do you plan to do?" Grace asked quietly.  
  
"I'm going to pay her back for Lila and for Cooper. I'm going to pay her back for being a lying, deceiving, and cold-hearted bitch. I'm going to make her regret that she ever crossed my path. And Rumlow…"  
  
Grace froze.   
  
"Rumlow?"  
  
Clint nodded. "Laura was working with him the whole time."  
  
"Clint, do you –"  
  
"I know," he told her, pulling up and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his side. "I know who he is to you, Grace. And I'm going to make him pay for that too."  
  
It wasn't until that moment, with Grace trembling against him, that he considered just how tightly their fates were woven together with Brock Rumlow being a common factor in the heartbreak they'd both been forced to survive.  
  
"Shhh," he whispered against her head. "I'm sorry I even said that name. You're here trying to comfort me and I just…"  
  
Grace shook her head against his chest. "It's okay. I know he's out there. I know there's a good chance I'll have to even… face him. I just…"  
  
Her heart was beating so hard, a tiny tattoo against him.   
  
"Clint, I'm… afraid. I'm so afraid of him," she admitted.  
  
"Don't be." Pressing a kiss into her hair, he willed her to relax. "We'll stop him. We won't let him hurt anyone else, Grace."  
  
When she snuggled closer, he chuckled. "Since we're comfortable, want to pick something on Netflix to watch and hang out? I don't see myself being able to go back to sleep."  
  
Grace nodded, still not letting go. "Me either."  
  
She squeaked when he scooped her up, walked back to the top of the bed and sat her down in the middle. Somehow she looked so small in her t-shirt and sleep shorts. With everything she'd been through, was going through, how could she even smile up at him as she was?

"Do you have popcorn?" She asked quietly.  
  
Clint thought about that. "No, but I have an idea. We'll go raid the kitchen."  
  
He knew she liked that idea when she bounded off the bed.  
  
"But we'll have to be quiet. Covert."  
  
Grace tried to make a serious expression which only had her laughing more.  
  
"Forget it." Clint shook his head and laughed. "We get caught, I'm totally blaming you."  
  
"Excuse me?" She asked playfully.  
  
"Come on." Opening his door, they headed up the hall, trying to be quiet and not awaken any of the others in their mission for popcorn and junk food.


	8. Russian Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Grace become closer, as both of them open up about their traumatic experiences regarding Rumlow. Bucky and Sophie grow closer, while Tony is given devastating news regarding a dear friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do not post this work to another site.

They reached the kitchen without anyone catching them, but Grace swore she could hear the soundtrack for Swan Lake playing in the distance. Maybe it was just her imagination.  
  
Clint grabbed a pack of chocolate cookies, while Grace made the popcorn, and some salted caramel brownies. There was plenty of stuff left over, as they sneakily went to Clint's bedroom. Clint was amused to see Grace's cats were asleep on the lounge near his bed, with Lucky settled peacefully on the large dog bed. He turned on Netflix, and found a film called Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  
  
He waited until Grace was comfortable and played the film, as they sat together in a comfortable silence while watching the film. Grace felt safe around Clint, he reminded her of a fierce hawk.  
  
She smiled, and offered him the plate of brownies, he took one and bit into it with a smile of thanks. They both watched the film, and were impressed so far.

* * *

Bucky found himself unable to sleep again, his nightmares were constantly waking him, and it made him hate what he was even more. He hated HYDRA, and he hated the KGB for turning him into the Winter Soldier. At least he wasn't that anymore, he preferred the name White Wolf that the Wakandan children had given him during his stay with the kind, gentle villagers. He heard music playing from the ballet studio, and curiously went to see what was going on.  
  
He was surprised to see it was Sophie, and she was dancing to Swan Lake, her movements graceful. It was reminding Bucky of Natasha, if he thought about it.  
  
"You're up late, doll." Bucky said quietly, Sophie jumped at hearing his voice, and turned around to face him.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake up anyone. I just couldn't sleep, my mind's just a jumbled mess," Sophie explained shyly, she was wearing a grey tank top with a pair of black sweatpants.  
  
Her eyes strayed to Bucky, he was in a pair of black sweatpants and shirtless, his left metal arm glowing in the dim lighting. She could see the gold outlines on his left metal arm.  
  
He looked intimidating but at the same time gentle, she cautiously put a hand on his left arm feeling him shiver against her touch. He swallowed roughly, and turned his face away.  
  
"Monster," he said bitterly, Sophie shook her head and squeezed his metal hand gently. She didn't think he was a monster, he'd been used as a weapon by HYDRA and the Soviet Union.  
  
"I think you should be calling me that, James. I was born out of rape, a lot of people would think I'm a monster." Sophie said quietly, feeling heartbroken at how terrified her mother must have been as had their father had been.  
  
"You weren't given a choice Sophie, your father...I remember him vaguely. My memories are slowly coming back, I write them in my journals," Bucky explained quietly, and Sophie looked at him quietly.  
  
"So, they're memory books?" She asked stunned, a part of her felt terrible for how Bucky must feel having to have these horrific memories of his crimes.  
  
He was a victim, just like her parents and Grace had been. The thought of what Grace had been put through, horrified her when they heard Jarvis speak.  
  
"Shall, I turn off the music Miss Sophie?" The AI asked politely, Sophie nodded in agreement at his suggestion.  
  
"Yes please, Jarvis." She said softly and looked at Bucky who was fussing over Raymond who'd come to visit. The Bengal rescue cat purred loudly and allowed him to stroke his chin.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah, I started journaling not long after S.H.I.E.L.D. fell and I was a fugitive for a couple of years."  
  
Sophie stopped to consider that. "You must have been… I can't imagine what that was like for you. All of a sudden you were free in a world that was so different from the one you came from. Was there no one to help you? Anyone?"  
  
Bucky shrugged, continuing to pet Raymond. "I could have gone to Steve. I should have gone to Steve. I spent most of that time avoiding him and he was just trying to help me."  
  
"Did you remember him at all?" Sophie wondered. "I know you were close before all of that happened to you."  
  
"In bits and pieces, Sophie," he admitted. "What I read about him in the Smithsonian seemed like an encyclopaedia next to what I remembered about him then. He said he was my friend but… I didn't know who to trust."  
  
His gaze met hers, the sympathy in her expression made him pause.  
  
"That's why I want to help you and your sister, I guess. I have an idea of what it's like to be tossed away when you're no longer useful and have to try and survive in a place you're completely unprepared for." He handed her Raymond, glancing around the ballet studio. "I'm grateful that you and Grace are here. This might not be what you wanted but it's better than falling into HYDRA's hands."  
  
Wrapping her arms carefully around her cat, she nodded. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about all of this, Bucky. I'm used to making cakes, not kicking ass."  
  
He laughed at that.   
  
"You'll do better than you think," he told her. "You showed a lot of promise today."  
  
"Yeah." Rolling her eyes, she put Raymond down at her feet. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel like I was… getting somewhere with that."  
  
"You did great," he told her.  
  
"And you weren't acting at all?" she said with a challenge.  
  
He'd kind of guessed that she was proud. He was starting to realize that he'd only just scratched that surface.  
  
"I wasn't acting at all," he said seriously.  
  
Sophie seemed to consider that. "I guess it wasn't terrible then. Grace showed me up."  
  
"She took down Peter." He snorted. "He wouldn't have gotten up off that mat so fast if you'd been the one who nailed him."   
  
She nodded, seeming embarrassed by the praise.  
  
"We could match you up with someone else to spar if that would help," he offered. "If that would make you feel better."  
  
"No," she said quickly, her face darkening. "No, I'd rather work with you. I don't want easier to feed my ego. You give me something to work towards. If I ever get to a point where I can take you down, well, I'll have some sense of accomplishment."  
  
"You will, huh?"  
  
Sophie was flustered, and it was adorable.  
  
"Don't make fun of me," she said with a nervous laugh.  
  
"Wouldn't dare, doll," he said with all honesty. "There's a lot of things I can't do. I couldn't make a cake to save my life. Hell, I can barely heat canned and frozen stuff when I have to."  
  
Her laugh was a warm, beautiful sound.   
  
"I sure couldn't dance like that," he admitted.  
  
"You can't dance at all?" She quirked a brow at him.  
  
"I didn't say that," he explained. "Used to love going dancing before I went into the army. I'd stay out on the floor with the dames—ladies for hours. Used to drive Steve nuts when I'd set him up on a blind date and drag him along."  
  
"Show me," Sophie challenged him. "We're up anyway. Dance with me."

"You're on doll," Bucky said intrigued, and he gently held her by the waist as Jarvis began playing slow jazz music on the speakers. He effortlessly spun her around, and pulled her into his arms, as they began doing a very intimate dance.  
  
He distantly recalled dancing before the war, and Sophie smiled at him as he threw her over his shoulder in an effortless move. She laughed, and they continued to dance.  
  
He didn't feel like a monster and smiled as the music changed to swan lake. He watched impressed as Sophie pointed her toes and leaned against the bar up against the mirror.  
  
She smiled at him, and he pulled her into him as they did pas de deux, and he smiled when she did the spin with attitude. She was like one of those miniature ballet dancers in a music box, spinning around delicately.  
  
"I'll catch you, trust me," he said quietly, she nodded at him and did the split leap, landing gracefully in his arms as the soundtrack finished dramatically.  
  
Neither of them had noticed Steve, and Natasha watching them.

* * *

"It's like watching a Soviet Union version of Swan Lake, you know?" Natasha said softly, as they both watched Bucky and Sophie perform ballet. Steve nodded in agreement, he couldn't help but admire Bucky's dance moves, which clearly had ballet incorporated into the choreography.

Sophie performed a split leap, which would make any gymnast jealous as the music began ending dramatically. She landed gracefully in Bucky's arms, and Steve smiled.

Bucky looked relaxed, and happy. He was happy that Sophie had been able to make him, smile.

* * *

Clint woke up to see that Grace was fast asleep, and it was three AM in the morning. He vaguely remembered that after watching Mission Impossible, they'd brushed their teeth and put the food away. He quietly put the quilt around her, and she curled up into him even more, seeking his warmth. He stilled, but relaxed and laid down beside her.  
  
Laura hadn't liked him holding her too much, that should have signalled warning bells, but he'd been in love with her. He had genuinely thought she had loved him and look how that turned out. Last night, Grace had comforted him and confessed that she felt the exact same way as he did about her son. She knew his pain, and the terrible heartache it left. Unlike Grace, he had closure, but she didn't have that small comfort. She'd been left in an agonising limbo with her sister, ever since S.H.I.E.L.D had taken Zach away.  
  
Hopefully they would find him, he felt Grace trembling in the bedsheets and saw she was crying fearfully.  
  
"Please don't do this, just let me go home. I swear I won't tell anyone," she sobbed frightened.

"Grace?" He muttered, his voice rough from sleep.  
  
"Please don't," she began to cry in her sleep. "Don't touch me. Please. I just want to go home—"  
  
"Grace!" Clint had firmly grasped her upper arms and shook her enough to awaken her but not enough to make her terror worse. "Gracie, wake up."  
  
Her eyes flew open, rolling around wildly until she began to focus on him. Her palm smoothed up to his face, staring hard at him for a moment as if she didn't know him.  
  
"Grace, it's Clint. It's me. Breathe," he whispered.   
  
Tears ran over her cheeks. Christ, she looked so scared.  
  
"Clint?" she asked, sounding so small.  
  
"Yeah, it's me," he told her, keeping his voice calm. "You're safe. I've got you."  
  
Her eyes scanned the room frantically, she seemed to be remembering how she'd got there and why.  
  
"He's not here?"  
  
"No, honey, he's not. Just me. You're safe with me," he whispered. "Please breathe. You're scaring me."  
  
It reminded him of the nightmares Cooper used to have when he was small, worried about monsters killing his daddy. She sucked in air before a sob ripped from her chest, a low painful sound that broke his heart as he watched her crumble.  
  
"Come here," he whispered, pulling her to his chest and holding her close. "It's okay. I've got you. You're safe with me."  
  
"Oh my God, Clint," she managed between sobs and breaths. "He's… he's still out there."  
  
"Not for long," he swore. Brock Rumlow's days were numbered. Clint would personally guarantee that.  
  
"What if he… f-finds me?" Her voice sounded so broken.  
  
"One day," Clint told her, rubbing small circles on her back, "he will find us. You and me. And we'll finish him, Grace. We'll keep him from ever hurting anyone else. I promise."  
  
Her arms wrapped around him, held him tight. He felt her nod against his chest.  
  
"Yes… yes, we will. I want to be there, Clint," she said, sounding stronger. Pulling back, she stared up into his face, her eyes filled with shadows of the pain he felt. "I want to be there to see it."  
  
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he pulled her into his chest and stretched out on his back. "You'll be there, Grace. You'll see it."  
  
Nodding, she rested her head on his chest, throwing one slim leg across his own as she sought comfort. Trusting him as her sobs faded and her breaths slowed down into the cadence of sleep.   
  
Clint, who had a hard time sleeping himself, just enjoyed holding her. Her sleep seemed peaceful now and he'd take that. She'd need her sleep for the days ahead. He wasn't just telling her nonsense to get her to go back to sleep. He'd meant every word he'd said.  
  
He didn't care if Rumlow found him or it was the other way around. The outcome would be the same.   
  
Rumlow was already dead.

Clint had never hated someone as much as he did about Rumlow, and Laura but he did hate them. He'd make Rumlow suffer for what he'd done to Grace, and all of his other victims.  
  
He held Grace close and leaned back against the pillows as Starling came over and sat by his feet. The black cat purring lightly, as he lulled Clint into a restful sleep.

* * *

Jarvis woke up the team for their morning training session, causing a bleary-eyed Tony to stumble out of his bedroom. His dark brown hair was tousled, and his Metallica t-shirt looked like it was covered in motor oil.  
  
"Eat breakfast, then we'll be doing team training," Steve said amused, when he saw Bucky and Sophie coming together, Bucky had a peaceful expression on his face while Sophie looked more at ease than she had yesterday.  
  
"Who's turn is it to cook?" Natasha asked curiously, the team had come up with a weekly rota, so each team member could cook breakfast, lunch and dinner.  
  
"Mine, Sam cooked yesterday." Bucky answered, as he began getting the ingredients out for Belgian waffles, pancakes and beef sausages.  
  
"Are we doing the training, and then eating?" Sophie asked tentatively, she didn't know how this worked out but was curious about how the team did it.  
  
"We'll be eating breakfast, and then doing training, shortly. We want you to build muscle, not waste away." Natasha explained patiently, and Sophie smiled in understanding.  
  
"Mr Stark, there are two police officers wishing to speak with you," Jarvis announced, Tony frowned but nodded at the AI.  
  
"Let them in, Jarvis." He said wearily, and they heard a car driving into the car park before seeing on the security camera two non-uniformed police officers entering.  
  
"Mr Stark, I'm Lieutenant Olivia Benson and this is my partner, Detective Amanda Rollins. I'm afraid, something has happened to Happy Hogan." The woman said gently.  
  
The room became quiet, everyone looked worried and Tony had paled considerably.  
  
"Is Happy alright? Where is he?" Tony asked worriedly, he cared a lot about Happy and the man had always supported him.  
  
"I'm so sorry Mr Stark, but Happy Hogan was found murdered this morning outside Stark Industries. Do you know where we can find Virginia Potts? She was the last person who Happy spoke to." Olivia explained sympathetically, her hazel eyes meeting his.  
  
Tony opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Happy was dead......someone had murdered his close friend, and he felt sick to his stomach.  
  
The others looked at him worriedly, wanting to say something to try and console him.  
  
"I haven't spoken to Pepper since yesterday morning, she wants a divorce and I'm signing the papers today," Tony said quietly, feeling distraught.  
  
Who would want to kill Happy?

"Are you… are you sure it's him? Has the body been identified?" Tony tried, praying with everything he had that this was a mistake, that he and Happy could laugh it off later.  
  
"You can help us with that, positive identification," Detective Rollins told him. "If you'd come with us."  
  
Natasha gently embraced Tony from behind. "Maybe this is a mistake," she whispered.  
  
Tony felt fragile at the moment like Nat was holding him up.  
  
"Stay here and manage things," Tony told her. "I won't be long."  
  
To Steve he nodded. "Take care of things, Cap."  
  
Steve's face mirrored the sadness that was crushing him from the inside. Steve clamped a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Whatever you need," Steve told him.  
  
Tony saw Bucky and the one spider girl, read their concern. Since when did people feel sorry for him? Pity him?  
  
At least he had his shoes on as he trudged after the two policewomen and headed out of the front of the compound. The detective – her name was Amanda, right? – turned back to him as she motioned to their unmarked sedan.   
  
"Would you like to bring someone with you, Mr. Stark?" She offered.  
  
Tony felt lost, realizing everyone was back up in the kitchen. Glancing up and down the sidewalk, he saw one small woman coming up the walk, lugging a bag as big as she was. Her dark brown hair had gold highlights in the sun and it looked like she'd spent some time styling it. Her blouse and skirt looked professional, the heels he could tell she wasn't used to walking in were scuffed already and there was a huge runner in her stockings as she carried the bag up to the sidewalk.  
  
Deliberately he came to a stop in front of her. "Who are you?"  
  
Her mouth dropped open when she glanced up at him, her grey eyes wide. "Lillia Dumitrescu."  
  
"Do you work here?"  
  
The young woman nodded. "It's my first day."  
  
She was adorable, and she would do.  
  
"You work for me?"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Stark."   
  
"Okay, we're going to the police station," he told her before opening the back door and ushering her in the back of the car, huge bag and all. "Get in."  
  
Once they were settled, she sat demurely in the back with her hands folded in her lap. "Am I in trouble, Mr. Stark?"  
  
Tony shook his head. "I just need someone to come with me to the police station."  
  
"Okay."


	9. Secrets From The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of Happy's murder, Tony becomes fearful for Pepper's safety. Clint and Grace uncover a suspicious letter, while Bucky, Sophie and Natasha find an abandoned car and fear HYDRA has taken Pepper.

The police officers were in the front of the car and they were on their way. Tony was trying not to think worst case scenario. Something was off. Happy wasn't dead. He'd get to the bottom of it. Where the hell was Pepper?  
  
"Today is your first day at the compound?" he asked Lilia,  
  
When she nodded, he asked, "What do you do?"  
  
"AI engineering," she said with some confidence.  
  
That got his attention. "So, you're the new addition to the AI team? Huh."

"Yes, I have two engineering degrees and two medical degrees, I graduated from MIT." Liliya know explained quietly, Tony nodded as they reached the police station and were shown to the morgue.  
  
Where the hell was Pepper?   
  
He looked at the morgue attendant who gently pulled the sheet away, revealing the battered and beaten face of Happy. He felt like someone had punched him, he felt sick.  
  
Happy was really dead.  
  
"It's him, it's Happy. How did this happen?" Tony asked quickly, he wanted to know exactly what had happened to his friend.   
  
"That's what we're trying to find out, Mr Stark. We'll keep in touch with you and try contacting Miss Potts." Olivia reassured gently, Tony nodded numbly at her words.  
  
Lilia gently led him away and was relieved to see that a car had parked up to pick them up. Tony gave Steve and Natasha a grateful smile, as the four of them drove back to the compound in silence.

* * *

"Do you think Tony's ok, Bucky?" Sophie asked quietly, she was sweating from the training session and was trying to block Bucky's punches.  
  
Bucky sighed quietly, truthfully, he didn't think Tony was coping very well with the fact that one of his few friends had been murdered. He wondered where Pepper was?  
  
Sighing, he shook his head and gave Sophie a sad smile.  
  
"I don't think so, doll. Tony's gone through a lot this year, he saw Peter disintegrate in front of him, and then Pepper didn't want kids with him. It's been a rough year for him," Bucky said quietly, and swallowed.  
  
"And in 2016, he found out HYDRA used me to kill his parents in 1991. That's how your father got injected with the super-soldier serum, HYDRA wanted more Winter Soldiers." He explained grimly and sighed.  
  
"I've hurt so many people, Sophie. I don't know if I'll ever be able to make amends to atone for what I've done, but I want to." He said firmly, Sophie smiled.  
  
"I think you've already making amends, Bucky. You're considered a hero, and you've saved lives," Sophie reassured, as she looked at the uneven bars.  
  
She'd always loved this piece of equipment and had many female gymnastic heroes for this apparatus.  
  
"Are you going to show off your routine, that won you a gold World Medal, Soph?" Grace asked excited, proud of her sister.  
  
Sophie laughed and nodded.

Hopping up on the lower bar, Sophie mounted the bars, spinning then kipping up the top bar. A pirouette gave her momentum and then it was all flowing from there. Sophie went along from one move to the next, the entire routine as much a part of her as breathing. From Jaeger and then to Pak Salto, keeping her legs straight, keeping her toes pointed. Oblivious to the small crowd that had gathered to watch, she got ready for the big moves at the end. Adding an extra twist to the end of her dismount, she managed the landing without stepping out, caught off guard by the applause at the end.  
  
Bucky hadn't been able to take his eyes off her. Between dancing with her last night, to watching her twirl above him, he was fascinated with her.  
  
He wanted to tell her how beautiful she'd looked but had no idea what to say and the moment was lost when Clint, who stood behind Grace, winked at Sophie.  
  
"Hot stuff, but could you take down a man with those moves?" he challenged her.  
  
What he actually did was get the attention of both sisters, Grace giving him a playful shove back. "Let's find out," she told him.  
  
Sophie followed them back to the mat and Bucky grinned, watching Clint face the prospect of going against both of them.  
  
"Not what I was looking for, but okay," he joked. Then he looked to Bucky across the mat. "Help a fellow out?"  
  
Bucky shook his head, folding his arms across his chest and watching the two women begin to circle the archer.  
  
Clint winked at Grace. "You'll take it easy on me, right?"  
  
"When did I agree to that?" Grace told him, fighting a smile.  
  
Sophie came at him first and Bucky was proud to see her using moves he'd shown her. Grace followed suit until the sisters were circling him, making him really work for it as she fought off one and then the other. He blocked punches, he took Sophie's legs out from under her.   
  
It was Grace who caught him off guard, catching him with an elbow to throw him off balance. Sophie went in with Natasha's scissor takedown and Clint was flat on his back on the floor.  
  
"Damn," he called, staring up at them in a daze. "You're fast learners, I'll give you that."  
  
"I'll say," Natasha told them, no one having noticed when she entered the gym. "Sophie that was perfect."  
  
Sophie turned to smile over her shoulder at the spy, pleased that she'd nailed it that time.  
  
"How's Tony?" Bucky asked Steve as he approached.   
  
Steve shook his head. "Happy's gone and then he got more bad news on the way back from the morgue."  
  
"What happened?" Bucky asked concerned.

"Pepper sent him divorce papers, his lawyers are dealing with it but it's hitting him hard." Steve said quietly, everyone froze at his words as Tony entered with a dark haired young woman that had red highlights in her hair.  
  
"Everyone, this is Liliya Dumitrescu who will be with the AI team and will be working with Jemma, and Helen Cho." Tony announced smoothly, but everyone could tell he was near breaking point.  
  
Clint stepped forward to console him, but he quickly left to go in the direction of the lab. Everyone watched him go in silence, before Lilia spoke up quietly.  
  
"He's been quiet since we've come back from the morgue, he's only spoken twice.," Lilia explained quietly, her grey eyes concerned.  
  
"I'll go check on him, see if he's alright." Clint said quietly, nodding in thanks to the young woman who nodded at him.

* * *

While Clint went to talk to Tony, Sophie and Grace with the help of the team decided to cheer Tony up. So, they decided to make him a cake.  
  
"Jarvis, what are Tony's favourite cake flavours?" Grace asked, and Sophie had wanted to do something for Tony in thanks for him saving their shop.  
  
If Tony hadn't bought their shop, then they would have lost their mother's business. It would have devastated them, if that had come to pass.  
  
"Mr Stark enjoys a tiramisu, and his mother's chocolate cake with a salted caramel frosting. Miss Drăgoi," Jarvis said kindly, Grace nodded as she and Sophie began baking the cake.  
  
"Is that chocolate cake?" Bucky asked hopefully, Sophie laughed while Grace smiled at the dark haired young man that was making Sophie like her old self.  
  
"Yes, a chocolate cake with salted caramel filling. We wanted to do a cake for all of you, and Tony." Sophie explained softly, when they saw Grace coming out looking sad.  
  
"Clint, Peter and Steve are with Tony. He's not doing great, Pepper's signed the divorce papers, and apparently she wants the Malibu house," Grace said quietly.  
  
Peter looked sad at hearing this, while Sophie and Bucky exchanged a grim look of understanding. Lilia looked saddened at what was happening to Tony and looked at Natasha who looked troubled.

* * *

Clint and Steve were both carefully helping Tony out of the room, after he confessed that he'd been tempted to have a drink. His shoulders slumped, and he sighed.  
  
"I can't stop being Iron Man, I can't. It's who I am, and I lost Pepper because she didn't understand." Tony said finally, tired and exhausted.  
  
He missed Happy.

"What happened to Happy?" Clint asked, still trying to catch up with everything. Peter tucked away his phone.  
  
Tony glanced up from there he slumped in the chair. "I don't know. At the moment, I don't know. I don't even know where Pepper is."  
  
"When's the last time you saw her?" Steve asked quietly.  
  
"When she slapped me across the face yesterday in front of most of you," Tony told him. Then his expression perked up. "I tried to call, and she didn't answer but considering that she'd divorcing me, I didn't think too much of that."  
  
Clint and Steve exchanged a concerned look.   
  
"Then she didn't show up at the office this morning," Tony rambled on. "Wait…"  
  
Pulling out his phone, he combed through the screens frantically. When he stopped, his eyes widened.  
  
"Happy was her driver last night when she left. Nothing new there. No one has heard from either of them since," Tony told them. "Happy is…"  
  
"Right." Steve glanced at Clint. "Where was she going?"  
  
"I don't know." And he looked sad he didn't know, calling Pepper's assistant. "Hey, Carmen, it's Tony. Where's Pepper?"  
  
Tony's face drained of colour and he stood. "When's the last time you heard from her? Hey, it's okay. We're going to find her, Carmen. She's been so upset with me being a total idiot that she's probably tucked in somewhere to recover from it. Okay? I'll be in touch soon. Thank you."  
  
"Shit, her assistant hasn't seen her since before she was here," Tony told Steve.  
  
Steve nodded, springing into action. "Tony, why don't you stay put in case she shows up or tries to make contact. We'll see what we can find."  
  
"Steve, she's okay, isn't she?" Tony sounded uncharacteristically scared.  
  
"We'll find her," Steve assured him, leading Clint and Peter from the lab. Bruce was heading towards them. "Bruce, Pepper's missing. Can you stay here and keep an eye on Tony?"  
  
Bruce's eyes widened in alarm. "I thought they were getting divorced?"  
  
"That's also true but right now, we don't know where she is."  
  
"Maybe she's just… upset?" Bruce offered.  
  
"Hope so," Steve said, leading Clint and Peter back to the living area of the compound.   
  
They found Bucky, Sophie, and Grace in the kitchen, working away on something. Nat sprawled over the sofa in the living room, watching television.  
  
"Nat," Steve called.   
  
Rising from the couch, she made her way into the kitchen to meet them. "What's up?"  
  
"Pepper fought with Tony in front of last night, here at the compound," Steve began. "She went out to the car, Happy was driving. Happy's body has been located. No one, including Pepper's assistant, has heard from her since."  
  
"Nat, take Bucky and Sophie and find out everything you can about where and how Happy was found," Steve directed. "Comb the car for any detail on Pepper's whereabouts."  
  
Nat nodded, Bucky patted Sophie on the shoulder, tipping his head towards the oven. "It's almost done, she told him. We can finish it later."  
  
"Clint, you and Grace go check out Pepper's office, her apartment, everything. See if you can find any trace of her."  
  
Clint nodded. "Get ready," he told Grace.  
  
"What about me, Cap?" Peter asked, looking eager to help.   
  
"You're with me," Steve informed him. "Let's go."  
  
"Right," Peter said. "I'm with you. Okay."  
  
Dashing around the counter, he hugged Sophie then Grace. "Be careful guys."  
  
Sophie and Grace exchanged a glance.  
  
They were heading on their first Avenger mission.

"We'll be careful Peter, you take care of yourself and Steve." Sophie said reassuringly, Peter nodded and left with Steve while she said goodbye to Grace and Clint.  
  
She hoped Pepper was alright.

* * *

Clint and Grace drove to Pepper's apartment and parked outside the expensive building. Grace would guess that this condo apartment costed at least, millions of dollars. She and Sophie could never afford to live here, even if their business did pick up wealthy customers.  
  
They walked up to Pepper's floor, and saw the penthouse was untouched aside from the bedroom. There were clothes on the bed, but something felt off.  
  
"This feels staged, I don't know why but it feels fake." Grace said quietly, Clint nodded in agreement as they looked around and found a letter.  
  
It was addressed to Tony, and it was in Pepper's neat handwriting. Grace read it, while Clint searched around for any hint of where she could have gone.  
  
 _'Dear Tony,  
  
Our marriage hasn't been working ever since you said that you wanted children, and I'm not ready for that commitment. Plus, I don't think it's fair having children while you're with the Avengers, it's too dangerous.  
  
I'm going away for a few months, to get my head cleared until the divorce is finalised. I hope you have a good life, Tony.  
  
Love, Pepper.'_   
  
"We'll give this to Tony and the others, let's go check out her office." Clint said quietly, Grace nodded and they both left the penthouse silently.  
  
Grace couldn't help but get a sense that something terrible was about to happen. They drove to Pepper's office which was in Stark Tower and were shown to her office.  
  
Nothing was out of place, but Clint saw that someone had recently used the computer recently. The last log in, had been 11:30 PM and that had been to book a reservation at a hotel in England, called the Lanesborough Hotel.  
  
She'd bought one plane ticket with first class, and he sent this information to Tony who sighed quietly.  
  
"I'll tell the police what we know, thanks Clint and Grace." He said quietly, and hung up.  
  
"Poor Tony, he must be heartbroken," Grace said sadly, her blue eyes sympathetic as they left the building and got in the car.  
  
"Yeah, he really loved her. This doesn't make any sense, why would Pepper leave Happy and go to another car?" Clint said thoughtfully, as they drove back to the base.

* * *

Bucky, Natasha and Sophie were searching the black limo that Happy had been found in and found nothing so far. Sophie couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

She'd been searching under the car seat, when she used one of the gloves to pick up a Stark iPhone. It was still charged, but there were at least fifteen voice messages. She cautiously pressed the button, and her blood ran cold at the voice speaking. It was a Sokovian accent.  
  
"Hail HYDRA and the Red Skull!" The voice declared, before five gunshots echoed, and she heard someone slump to the ground before the voicemail cut off.  
  
She walked to where Bucky and Natasha had been searching and held out the phone to them. Bucky saw she was trembling, and her voice was a whisper.  
  
"I think it was HYDRA who killed Happy, Nat and Bucky."

Natasha's eyes narrowed, stretching out a gloved hand for the phone and slid it into an evidence bag. "Let's get this back to the compound and review everything on it."  
  
Bucky shook his head. "So, they killed Happy because Pepper was their target. Are they going to hold her for ransom? What is it they're after?"  
  
Natasha's gaze cut to Sophie and back.   
  
"You think they want us? Grace and myself?"  
  
"Fuck," Bucky muttered.  
  
"Maybe," Natasha told them as they finished sweeping the car. "You were hidden well here in the city and your parents knew that. I know it's hard to learn everything they kept from you all these years, but they had a reason for hiding things. If you didn't know, you wouldn't go looking."  
  
Sophie nodded. That felt right. Their mother, in particular, had been so overprotective of her girls.  
  
"Just help me do something," Sophie asked them both. "Help me protect Grace. After learning what she went through, I'm just afraid… what if they want her back?  
  
Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she welcomed the comforting weight of it.   
  
"We're not going to let them take Grace. Or you. Try not to worry, doll."  
  
Natasha smirked, turning back to dive into the car. When she didn't come back out quickly, Sophie and Bucky exchanged a glance.   
  
"Did you find something else?" Sophie asked.   
  
Nat rose from where she'd been digging beneath the driver's seat, holding up an empty syringe. Pulling out another evidence bag, she tucked it away.  
  
"Come on," Nat told them. "Let's get back."


	10. From The Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony struggles in the aftermath of Happy's murder, and Lilia uncovers something on Pepper's laptop. Emotions run high, after raiding an abandoned HYDRA base and Grace breaks down. Sophie worries for her sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like the themes of the story, then please don't leave rude comments. Do not copy this story onto another site.

Back in the compound, Tony slumped in the chair behind his desk, doing everything he could to try and find some electronic trace of Pepper. Every route he tried came to a dead end.

Something had happened to her, he felt it. The loss of Happy, one of his dearest friends just felt the like the opening salvo to something else coming, something darker and far worse. Though how anything could even come close to the tragedy and desperation they'd faced at the hand of Thanos, he didn't know.

Pepper might. He still loved her. She maybe didn't love him now. Maybe she didn't want to be with him anymore. But he could live with that if she was out there, alive. He fought for her too each time he donned the suit. He couldn't make her see that, but it didn't make it any less true for him.  
  
All he could do was hope the team found something, some clue to where she might be.  
  
And God help anyone who had done anything to hurt her.  
  
"Mr. Stark?"  
  
Glancing up, he saw the young woman he'd taken with him to the police station earlier.   
  
"Lilia?"  
  
At least he thought that's what her name had been.  
  
She nodded, ducking into his office. She really was a young woman and she had an amazing resume from what he'd found when he looked up her employee records.  
  
Why did he do that?  
  
"I'm getting ready to head home," she told him. "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"  
  
Tony shook his head. "How was your first day?"  
  
She blew out an exhale. "It's been good, Mr. Stark, but…"  
  
Her brow had knitted which meant something else was coming and he just wanted her to spit it out, so he could go back to worrying. It just wasn't a good time.  
  
"We ended up going into Ms. Potts' office to find my paperwork earlier," she began, "and we were going over the items on her desk and computer."  
  
Pepper? She had his attention.  
  
"The lady who helped me panicked because she said that Ms. Potts may be missing and didn't want me to access anything, but I was already in. I'm so sorry."  
  
"You were already in?" His brows shot up. "How'd you manage that?"  
  
"Her password was tonysadork4," Liliya told him. "It wasn't that hard."  
  
"And?" There was a reason she was mentioning this.  
  
"The last entries on her computer showed what she'd accessed before she left," Liliya explained. "She had accessed two files, each person with a strange last name. Melnychenko Drăgoi, at least I hope I pronounced it correctly."  
  
Tony's heart dropped.  
  
"Did they make copies?"  
  
Lilia nodded grimly. "I don't know if that would help but I thought I should mention it. And explain what I was doing there. I'm so sorry. If you need to fire me…"  
  
Tony sprang up from his desk.   
  
"You're working overtime now," he told her, taking her by the elbow. "Let's go take a look."  
  
The young woman looked relieved. "Overtime it is. Let's go."  
  
Before they could make it out the office, Tony's phone buzzed. It was Clint.  
  
"Just a minute. I need to take this," he told her.

"Clint, it's me what did you find out?" Tony asked quickly, his stomach twisting in knots. He had a bad feeling that something awful had happened to Pepper.  
  
"Me and Grace searched Pepper's penthouse, and office. And we found out she left for London, she's also left a letter for you, but we think it was forged." Clint said grimly, Tony felt his stomach drop in dread at his words.  
  
Someone had taken Pepper?   
  
"What else did you and the team find out, Clint?" He asked urgently, feeling a shudder go up his spine at what he was hearing. Something was clearly going on.  
  
"Natasha, Bucky and Sophie found a used syringe in the driver's seat, Sophie found a disposable phone with a voicemail message. We're sending it to you, and Lilia now, and Bucky found 10mm Auto shell casings. It's not looking good, Tony." Clint admitted grimly.  
  
Tony felt his stomach sink.  
  
"When you and the team get back, me and Lilia need to talk to you all. It's urgent," He said finally, feeling uneasy.  
  
"You got it, take care Tony." Clint said quietly and hung up as Tony looked at Lilia who looked worried as they walked to her office and she unlocked the door.  
  
A black Toshiba Satellite laptop sat in the middle of a comfortable dark cherry wood desk. There were four framed photographs on the right-hand side, with a notebook, and a black fountain pen.  
  
"These are the files I found on Ms. Potts' history, she was reading information on two women called Sophie and Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi. And she was trying to access their medical files, and Peter Parker's file." Lilia explained worriedly, as Tony logged into Pepper's laptop.  
  
Sure enough, she'd accessed the files last night an hour before Happy had been murdered. She'd logged out at 11:30, the time Happy had been killed.  
  
Why would Pepper want to access their files? She didn't even know Sophie or Grace, and she barely knew Peter.  
  
"Jarvis pull up everything that Ross, and Fury gave us on Anya Melnychenko and Adam Drăgoi!" Tony ordered urgently, Jarvis immediately pulled up files on the two individuals.  
  
Lilia watched anxiously, having an odd feeling that she'd stumbled across something very dangerous.

* * *

"Patient Twenty-seven should be waking up soon, sir. When do you want me to start?" The male voice asked the man sitting behind the desk calmly, looking completely at ease.  
  
"When was her last menstrual cycle?" The doctor asked patiently, it was regrettable that they didn't have patient twenty-four, but they had three young women who were perfect healthy. He observed the latest test subject through the observation glass, she was currently sedated having had blood tests taken, and her IUD taken out.  
  
"Two weeks ago." The agent confirmed smugly, having studied his prey meticulously. He had studied the three women well and learned their routines.  
  
"Wait until she's had another one, but you can start on patient twenty-five. She's just finished her menstrual cycle, and patient twenty-six is on hers currently," the scientist instructed smoothly, and they exchanged a look.  
  
"Hail HYDRA." He said resolutely, and the man nodded at him in agreement and saluted.  
  
"Hail HYDRA." 

* * *

The agent calmly walked down the hallway to his room and locked the door firmly behind him. He pulled out a photo of a young woman with light wavy blonde hair, and smirked.  
  
"You'll be mine again, soon." He growled darkly and left the room as he found subject twenty five's little bedroom. She'd been cleaned up and was wearing a hospital gown.  
  
All ready for him and HYDRA.  
  
He pulled down the bedsheets, and slid up her hospital gown carefully, feeling her shudder under his touch. He cupped her left breast, feeling how hot it was. She struggled in the cuffs they'd used to secure her to the bed, her dark eyes shiny with tears.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" She twisted trying to pull free of his grip.  
  
He chuckled at her efforts, squeezing her breast harder now.  
  
"Because I can," he growled at her. "And because you're going to be a very important part of our research."  
  
Panting from her efforts, frantic to get away but unable to, the young woman glared up at him. "How dare you call rape research, you –"  
  
"Ah-ah," he cut her off. "Don't start lecturing me again about how you're a real scientist and what real research is. No one here is interested, understand?"  
  
Tears ran down her face now and he had to give her credit, she was a fighter. Not that it would do her any good.  
  
"Your arrogance will be what brings you down," she said with conviction. "They will come for us. And they will shut this entire nightmare down, once and for all."  
  
He nodded. "Maybe. Or maybe we wouldn't have taken you and your little friend and the businesswoman in there if they hadn't stepped into on our territory and taken what was ours."  
  
"What?" Confusion clouded those pretty brown eyes. "What did they take of yours?"  
  
"Not what. Who." He patted his girl's picture in his pocket. It wouldn't be long now.  
  
He was done with her stalling. He wasn't here to have a conversation. "Now, I don't want to gag you, but I will if you keep running your gums, you got that? Relax and this will be over faster. Piss me off and I'll take my time."  
  
He grabbed one of her thighs with his other hand, felt it tremble beneath him. He watched with more than a little satisfaction as she dropped her head down onto the pillow and tightly closed her eyes.

* * *

Tony called a meeting and gathered everyone in the compound's primary conference room. He finished off his Scotch as he watched them drift into the room around them. Liliya grabbed his glass, smiling at him as she did.  
  
"I need a refill," he told her.  
  
"No, Mr. Stark, you really don't," she told him.  
  
Steve smirked at her.  
  
"Yes, I do for this meeting," he pressed on playfully, just to see what she'd do. "Fill the glass."   
  
Her smile was dazzling. He watched her carry the glass from the room, happy to have won one small skirmish today. Confident he was getting his Scotch, he called the meeting.  
  
"Everyone, I gathered you here today because we have problems. If you haven't heard, I'm sorry to say that Happy Hogan, my assistant and… " Tony fought to keep the tears out of his voice "and just the best friend a man could have… was murdered. We have reason to believe that it might be HYDRA and that they might also have taken Pepper…"  
  
Lilia re-entered the room with his glass, the clear contents looked suspiciously like water. Taking the glass from her, he took a generous drink. Yep, water. She was getting the lecture for that.  
  
"We're pretty sure it's HYDRA," Steve threw in. "Pepper's not the only one missing. Peter and I were following leads and found out that Dr. Erik Selvig was attacked in Oslo. He's unconscious but expected to survive. The two people who were with him at the time have been reported missing. Dr. Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. The perpetrator seems to have a similar MO to what Sophie, Nat, and Bucky found."  
  
Tony swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Things were so much worse than he thought. Lilia blew out an exhale next to him, then pulled out a bottle of Scotch and set it next to his glass. He gave her a grateful smile, and she nodded at him quietly, before sitting down next to him. He felt sick, why would HYDRA want Pepper, Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis?   
  
The two women didn't really have anything to do with them, after the whole fight with Thanos. Jane had broken up with Thor and didn't want anything to do with them.  
  
"But why would HYDRA take them? What are they doing, that causes HYDRA to kidnap them?" Bruce asked concerned, he dreaded to think what HYDRA wanted with the three women.  
  
"That's what we're trying to find out, Bruce. Thor and Loki are on their way from Norway, Thor's worried about Jane and Darcy." Steve said grimly, he had a bad feeling about this.  
  
"Was Dr Foster working on anything in particular? Any research that might gotten HYDRA's attention?" Sophie asked worriedly, she saw Grace looked worried, but also concerned for the three women.  
  
"She was working on the Bifrost bridge but was forced to drop it after the fight with Thanos. Thor, and Loki should be arriving soon." Bucky explained quietly, feeling uneasy.  
  
"Sir, Director Fury is on the line." Jarvis announced gravely, and Fury showed up on the screen. His expression was grim, as he looked at the team.  
  
"Coulson's team have located a recently abandoned HYDRA base in Wyoming, they've found a lot of equipment." Fury informed them gravely, Steve nodded.  
  
"We'll be on our way, thanks Fury." Steve said quietly, Fury nodded, and Steve looked at all of them grimly. This was serious, and he hoped they could find Pepper, Darcy and Jane.

* * *

Grace had gotten suited up in the uniform that Tony had made for her, it was red and black, with an orange spider in the centre. And very comfortable, she was grateful that Tony hadn't made it sexual.  
  
She grabbed the mask, and it partially covered her eyes as she put the two batons strapped across her back. She took in a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. If something had happened to Jane, Darcy and Pepper because of her......she'd never forgive herself. They were innocent, why would HYDRA go after them?  
  
"Grace, you ok?" Clint asked quietly, she took in a deep breath and quickly opened the door, letting Clint in.  
  
"I'm ok, it's just.... Clint what if HYDRA took Jane, Darcy and Pepper because of me?" She asked worriedly, feeling responsible, but Clint shook his head violently.  
  
He wouldn't let Grace blame herself for this.  
  
"This isn't your fault, Grace. You aren't to blame, none of us think that. HYDRA went after them because of what they do, Pepper's associated with Stark Industries. It's not your fault." He said firmly, Grace gave him a brace smile.  
  
She was a tough young woman.  
  
He held out his left hand, and Grace took it tightly as they both left the room and she saw he was wearing a black and gold samurai looking uniform.  
  
He even had a sword strapped across his back, next to his quiver and she remembered what he had called himself in the dream two days ago.  
  
Ronin.  
  
They boarded the quinjet, and Grace was amazed to see Sophie dressed in her uniform, which was dark crimson red with a white spider on the front if her uniform.  
  
"Lilia's going to be giving coordinates with us, from the base. Hopefully, the base will give us a clue where Pepper, Jane and Darcy are," Tony said quietly, as he checked his Bleeding Edge armour.  
  
Everyone nodded quietly and buckled up as Clint and Natasha piloted the quinjet to Wyoming.

* * *

Sophie felt nervous, as they landed the quinjet and got off. She was afraid of what they would find once they entered the base. Horrible images visualised in her mind.  
  
"The base is clear; Captain Rogers looks like they left hours ago. We've found four bedrooms, and a lab." Lance Hunter said grimly, he looked at Clint quietly.  
  
"Hey Clint."

"Mind if we look around?" Steve asked Lance.  
  
Lance shrugged, motioning towards the rooms he found. "Nah. Help yourself."  
  
Grace had stayed just behind Clint up to this point, but as they moved closer to the lab, she watched her sister dart around them and head into the lab first.  
  
"So who are they?" Lance wondered aloud, as Clint passed him.  
  
"New," Clint said simply.

* * *

Sophie followed Nat into the lab. Grace was pulling open drawers, doors to cabinets, looking under the exam table in the middle of the room. The look on her face was a blend of determination and fear.  
  
"Gracie, are you okay?" she asked.  
  
Grace didn't reply, walking around her and Nat, to head for the bedrooms. Steve was in the first one with Bucky when she darted in there, pulling off her mask. Immediately she headed for the bed in the room, looking under it, reaching under the mattress and rumpled bedding.   
Sophie watched her along with the super-soldiers.  
  
"Is she okay?" Bucky mouthed when he caught her glance.  
  
Sophie was honestly afraid of what the answer to that question might be.   
  
When Grace pulled a restraint out from the bedding, her mind seemed millions of miles away. "There it is," she whispered.   
  
Clint walked in just as she pulled gloves out of her pack, sliding a finger along the edge of the cuff. There were traces of blood there. It yanked free with a vicious rip in her hand and she tucked it into an evidence bag.   
  
"Gracie, what are you looking for?" Sophie came to her side, kneeling next to her.  
  
Her hands smoothed through the bedding, finding traces of blood in different places, then a mostly lube container. She didn't think her sister was even aware of the tears sliding down her face.   
  
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked gently.  
  
Finally, Grace's attention turned to her. "No, I'm not. Do you know what happened in here? Do you know what they're doing to her?"  
  
Dropping to the floor she seemed frantic to get under the bed, half her body was under there before Sophie could think of what to do, glancing up at Bucky and feeling more helpless than she ever had. Her concern was mirrored in his handsome face.  
  
When Grace emerged, something dark was in her hand. A navy blue knit cap.  
  
"Darcy?" Steve asked.  
  
"Is that her name?" Grace wanted to know. "Is this hers?"  
  
Steve even took a step back and they all saw the fury building behind her blue eyes, eyes set exactly as their father's had been.  
  
"Do you know what they are doing to them?" Grace demanded of anyone in the room. "It takes time. It takes patience and they must be so frustrated that they had to pack up and abruptly move. They need seclusion for the experiments. A place where you can't hear them scream and they have no chance of escape, no way to get help."  
  
Clint moved closer and Grace stepped back as if she were afraid he was going to touch her.  
  
"No, you need to listen and understand," she told him in a pain-filled voice. "They are taking them for the experiments. They are trying to impregnate them. Don't you get it? They'll experiment on those babies, just like they did with us. And some of them, like Sophie's twin, won't make it."  
  
Clint braved another step and though Grace's blue eyes flashed at him in warning, she allowed it.  
  
"And these women, Pepper, Darcy," she held up the cap as she said the name, "Jane, even if they survive this, a part of them will have died in one of these rooms. A piece of their mind will always be trapped in this darkness."  
  
Bucky's eyes began to shine, his face turned away.  
  
"We have to find them," Grace insisted. "We have to free them and stop these motherfuckers from ever doing this to anyone, ever again."

Natasha and Steve exchanged a worried glance. Grace whirled on Sophie.  
  
"They all know, right? It was in our files and tossed around just like we were when we got thrown into this mess. They know what happened to me," her voice grew angrier. "They know it happened to me. That's where my son came from and then he was taken to. Why? What did I do to deserve this? Any of this?"  
  
Grace pointed at Bucky. "What did he do to deserve what they did to him?"  
  
"Grace," Clint moved closer still.   
  
Finally, she started to break. "Just… help me find them. Please."  
  
Sophie and Clint wrapped their arms around her as she broke into sobs, sinking to the floor. Steve gently ushered everyone else from the room. Nat remained.  
  
"We're going to find them, Grace," Nat said with a voice that wasn't perfectly steady. "We'll make them pay for it."  
  
Grace nodded, hanging on to Sophie and Clint.

"We're gonna make them pay, Gracie. For what they did to us, to our parents, to Natasha, Clint and all the team. They'll suffer." Sophie vowed darkly, her grey eyes flashing dark amber for a moment.  
  
HYDRA would feel their wrath.


	11. There For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Sophie grow closer, as Sophie tries to cope with everything that's happened. Grace is overridden with guilt for Darcy, Jane and Pepper's abductions, and finds reassurance in someone. Clint comforts Grace, after a traumatic nightmare.

Bucky searched the other rooms and came across piles of clothing. There was a black Chanel suit, with a white blouse, and other items of clothing.  
  
He checked the laptops, and all of them had been wiped clean. HYDRA wasn’t taking any chances. He felt sick as he remembered what Grace had said. HYDRA was going to use Jane, Darcy and Pepper as incubators for HYDRA agents. God knows, what they were going through right now.  
  
Sophie came in with a look of pure hatred, she started searching through the boxes when she pressed something. The bookcase behind Bucky opened, revealing an underground lab.  
  
"What the hell?" Bucky muttered darkly, he radioed the others and Steve cautioned him and Sophie to be careful, as they cautiously entered the room.  
  
There were Petri dishes, and four recently removed cryostasis chambers in the room. Bucky ventured further, and saw a room had no windows.  
  
He cautiously took a look and was inwardly horrified, to see the six dead bodies of young women ranging from their twenties to early thirties.   
  
He looked at Sophie as they opened the door, and saw the bodies lying lifelessly on the ground. They'd been dumped like trash, wearing hospital gowns.  
  
"How long have they been dead?" Sophie asked quietly, horrified at what she was seeing. Had her mother been forced to face this daily? Being constantly experimented on and getting pregnant until the pregnancy was successful.  
  
"The two oldest have been dead for at least four weeks, but they've not rotted yet. These three youngest though, it looks recent." Bucky said quietly, when one of the women grabbed his metal.  
  
"El Diablo....his name is El Diablo. He won't stop, please get it out of me!" The woman screamed in agony, Sophie was horrified to see blood staining her legs.  
  
"We're going to get you help, don't worry." Sophie reassured comfortingly, when the woman's skin glowed orange. Bucky grabbed Sophie and pulled her behind a wall.  
  
The explosion shook the building, taking out a part of the room and smoke billowed around them.  
  
Bucky looked up to see that Sophie had conjured up a spider web to stop any debris from failing on them, he nodded in thanks. She nodded, as Bucky spoke to Steve.  
  
"Steve, you and the others better come down here. The woman just......she just exploded." He said quietly, feeling dread run through him.

* * *

"You're not gonna like it, Cap but I know what caused the explosion." Tony said grimly, no humour in his voice for once. His dark brown eyes looked grim, and troubled.  
  
"What do you think it is, Tony?" Steve asked quietly, Bucky and Sophie had re-joined the team as SHIELD agents took the bodies to the compound. None of them trusted the government to autopsy the bodies, so Bruce, Jemma and Helen had offered to do it.  
  
"Extrimis. It's an advanced form of genetic manipulation created by Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian, using nanotechnology. It grants the human body the ability to heal and regenerate from physical damages, deformities and even psychological damages." Tony explained darkly and swallowed.  
  
"It can regrow limbs, but it's dangerously unstable. When the person with Extrimis tried to regrow the missing limb, they explode. Pepper's the only one, aside from Killian that hasn't exploded. Even after it was removed," he added grimly, and swallowed.  
  
"Do you think that's why they took Pepper? Because she had Extrimis in her?" Sophie asked quietly, Bucky standing close to her with Grace and Clint.  
  
"It's a possibility, you know. They're abducting Enhanced, Gifted, Mutant and Inhuman women. So, they took Jane and Pepper because they're both Enhanced but Darcy isn't." Bruce said gravely and sighed.  
  
That was when a flash of light appeared, and they saw two men standing in front of them.  
  
Thor, and Loki.  
  
"Have you found Lady Jane, and Lady Darcy?" Thor asked hopefully, Steve grasped his shoulder gently.  
  
"Not yet, Thor but we know who took them and why." Steve explained gently, Loki looked at him sharply.  
  
"Did HYDRA take Lady Jane and Lady Darcy, as hostages?" Thor asked intently, Steve shook his head.  
  
"No, Thor not for that reason. HYDRA took Jane, Darcy and Pepper to experiment, and breed children with them," he explained gently, seeing Thor's face turn in an expression of rage.  
  
"Do you have any idea where they are now, Captain?" The God of Thunder asked pleadingly, he still deeply loved Jane and was heartbroken when she'd left him.

"Working on," Tony joined them. "Sorry, big guy. We're going to do everything we can to find them."  
  
Even Loki's gaze was sympathetic on his brother. "Jane is strong," Loki told him. "She will last, brother, until we can find them."  
  
Thor nodded, his face grim.  
  
Steve just hoped he was right.

* * *

They'd been back at the compound for a few hours. The bodies of those poor women were being autopsied. Sophie and Grace had disappeared into their rooms and even though Steve had invited him to watch the game with him, he just didn't feel up to it. Steve knew things like this took him back to the dark places in his memory from his decades with HYDRA and tried to keep him from going there.  
  
Some doors would never permanently close.  
  
The knock on his door was barely there, so he knew who it wasn't. Blowing out an exhale, he went to the door to find Sophie there.  
  
"Come in," he told her.  
  
Closing the door behind him, he led her back to the couch. Sophie wasn't here expecting him to act normal, to act like everything was okay. Her past was filled with shadows like his, the hurt she felt reflected in her eyes.  
  
"How's Grace?" He asked gently.  
  
Sophie shook her head. "Finally, asleep."  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm trying, Bucky, I really am but…" Swiping at her tears, her gaze didn't leave her lap. "I just… Is there any way we can have her work on something else besides this? Can Steve help us? It's just knowing what I know now about what happened to her. Knowing what they put her through… They can't mean to put her through this. Maybe she can work on something else. With Peter. He's not even an adult yet, Bucky. He shouldn't be involved in something like this."  
  
"Hey," he whispered, watching her curl in on herself. "Come here."  
  
Pulling her in to him for a hug, he wrapped her up in his arms, just holding her.   
  
"We'll talk to Steve," he said into her hair. "I'm a little worried about the effect of all this on you. But no matter what happens, we'll get through this."  
  
Sophie held onto him so tightly, like he was the only anchor she had. They stayed there for long moments in the quiet of the room. In that moment, it was so hard to believe the outside world and all its ugliness even existed. In that moment, it was just them and feeling her heart beating against his was the sweetest thing he'd felt in years, decades.  
  
When she eased back to look up into this face, Bucky couldn't help but stare at her. Sophie was beautiful, kind-hearted. He hated everything Ross was putting her and Grace through, but he had to selfishly admit that if it hadn't happened, she wouldn't be here with him. In his arms…  
  
She deserved better.  
  
When Sophie gently pressed a kiss to his mouth, he froze. Her gaze searched his face and slowly, she smiled. When she kissed him again, he kissed her back, being so careful because it was already a miracle that she was here with him now. Her mouth was so soft and sweet...

Bucky relaxed into her kiss, smooth his flesh hand through her hair. He loved everything about it from her warmth against him to way her fingers were tangling themselves in her hair.  
  
When Sophie pulled back from his again, he could only stare at her in wonder.  
  
"That was nice," she told him shyly.  
  
He had to laugh at that. "I'm just glad I remembered how to be honest."  
  
The smile that earned him had his heart melting.  
  
"I read somewhere that you used to be quite a lady’s man back in the day," she said with a smile.  
  
His brows shot up. "You read about me?"  
  
"You were in our history books in school," Sophie explained, and he loved seeing her face lit up like that.  
  
"That was in your history books?" he wanted to know.  
  
Sophie shook her head playfully. "No, that was in some additional reading I did. I loved your story. I mean… you were a hero."  
  
Bucky shook his head. "I'm no hero, doll."  
  
"I think you are," she assured him. "You can't change my mind. You kind of live up to the legend."

Bucky didn't say anything to Sophie's words, she thought he was a hero and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She leaned into his embrace, just needing Bucky's comfort, as Raymond and Starling settled beside them.  
  
"And you're a hero too, Sophie." Bucky said firmly, holding her close and Sophie leaned into him. She was deeply troubled by what they had found out today, and worried about Grace.  
  
She just hoped that they would find the three missing women and find her beloved nephew. Otherwise....it was just too painful thinking about it.

* * *

_Grace had only slept for three hours, before the nightmares had started haunting her again. This time it was Jane, Darcy and Pepper who were glaring at her.  
  
"You're the reason we were taken! Do you have any idea what they're doing to us?!" Jane screamed angrily, Grace could feel her heart pounding.  
  
"I'm so sorry, we're going to find you all. I swear, I never wanted this either," Grace confessed quietly, trying to remain calm but her hands were shaking.  
  
'It's just a nightmare, just a nightmare. I'll wake up soon,' Grace thought desperately, tensing up when she saw Darcy stalking towards her with hatred burning in her sky-blue eyes.  
  
"This is you, and your sister's fault! They wanted you, but they took us instead to be experimented on, and raped! Some Avenger you are!" Darcy spat, and she saw someone else.  
  
The little boy had dark blonde hair, and dark hazel eyes. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, and a Captain America t-shirt.  
  
Zach.  
  
"Why couldn't you save me, mommy?" Zach asked upset, as she saw Rumlow behind him with a chilling smile.  
  
"Hey blondie."   
_

* * *

Grace woke up gasping for breath, tears swimming down her face silently as she sat in her bedroom. She felt her body shaking with sobs and buried her face in her hands. Her baby boy, her precious baby boy was out there somewhere. God knows, what he was going through or what was being done to him at this minute. It had almost been two years, and she wanted her son back.  
  
She cried silently and buried her face in her hands. She felt responsible for what was happening to Jane, Darcy and Pepper. For her son being taken away and failing to protect him.  
  
She stumbled out of the bed, she nearly ended up tripping over her converse trainers. She curled up, sobbing as she heard someone entering the room.  
  
"My baby, my baby boy. I'm sorry, I love you and Auntie Sophie loves you, and so does Uncle Peter and Aunt May. I'm sorry, god forgive me." Grace sobbed brokenly, weeping silently.  
  
Rough calloused hands, gently held her and she sobbed harder. She knew who it was, he wouldn't judge her for crying. For grieving over her son, and parents.  
  
"He's gone, Clint. I don't know why, but a part of me is saying he's gone. My baby boy's gone, but I don't want to believe it. I just want the pain to stop," she sobbed distraught, Clint held her tightly and felt his own eyes burn with tears.  
  
"Grace, we're not gonna stop looking for him. We'll find him, I promise honey." Clint promised firmly, Grace sniffled.  
  
"I'm scared Clint, I feel numb here." She said tiredly, gesturing to her heart, and Clint swallowed back tears of his own.  
  
God, he knew what she meant. He felt numb, like someone had torn his heart out and pieced it back together. But his grief for Cooper and Lila would never go away, it would stay with him.  
  
"Does it ever stop hurting? Will it ever go away, or am I going to be driven mad by it?" Grace asked numbly, her emotions were over the place and so were her powers.  
  
Clint held her tightly, feeling her relax in his arms.  
  
"No, the pain never goes away Gracie. We have to live with it and carry on. But you've got Sophie, Peter and us here to help you. You...got me." He said quietly, Grace held onto him.  
  
"Be honest with me, Clint. Do you think Zach's alive?" She asked bravely, wanting the truth from the archer.  
  
"It's been two years, with no sightings of him. But, he's a tough kid and if he is dead...then we'll make the bastards pay for what they've done." Clint vowed fiercely, Grace gave him a watery smile.  
  
"I just want him at peace, Clint. It's like I can sense him, but he's in limbo. What if we never find him?" She asked tearfully.  
  
Clint held her.  
  
"We won't stop looking Grace, we won't. We won’t give up or rest, unless we find him dead or alive." Clint said firmly, Grace sniffled.

"Let's get you back to bed," Clint whispered. "You have to rest, honey."  
  
"Clint, I can't sleep," she told him even as she let him gently ease her to her feet. "I see them. I see him when I close my eyes."  
  
"I know… Netflix then," he offered. "You don't have to sleep. We'll catch a movie or a show like we did the other night. And I'll be right here."  
  
Grace nodded. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't want to burden Sophie. Since her sister had learned what really happened to her, the sadness in her eyes was more weight she carried. She knew Sophie was the older sister, would somehow blame herself.  
  
Clint was the one person who could listen to her without pity, who understood her.  
  
"Stay here? With me?"  
  
Clint nodded. "I can do that."  
  
Grace led him back to her bed. Something just occurred to her.  
  
"You were already here," she told him. "How… how did you know?"  
  
"You… I see you in my dreams, Grace," he admitted, sitting on the end of her bed. "I'll hear your voice and I'll follow it. Guess, I'm just figuring out that's… that's real."  
  
Grace moved to stand between his thighs, pulling her to him, his cheek pressed against her stomach.  
  
"I'm sorry, Clint," she whispered. "I'm not trying to… pull you into my dreams."  
  
He looked up, his grey eyes filled with concern. "I'm not complaining, Grace. I guess I want you to know if you ever need to reach me, do it. I want to be there for you."  
  
When she didn't know what to say to that, he reached up on her bed and grabbed the remote. He smiled, "So what are we watching?"  
  
"Something funny?"  
  
"No chick flicks," he teased. "I could have lived my entire life without seeing The Notebook."  
  
Grace couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You're just afraid I'll tell everyone you cry at sad movies."  
  
"I so do not," he playfully argued.  
  
"Mmmm-hmmm. Keep telling yourself that." Grace glanced back over her shoulder. "I'll go see what I've got for snacks."  
  
Clint got Netflix started and rose to follow her. "I'll come with you."

* * *

The next day Grace was feeling slightly better. Netflix with Clint had amounted to watching one of the endless Mission Impossible movies for about twenty minutes and falling asleep. Clint was stretched out next to her, three of her cats curled up and cosy on him. She couldn't help but smile at that.  
  
Stretching she threw her legs over the side of the bed, knowing they needed to get downstairs for training. The autopsies would take place today and she needed to stay busy. So busy…  
  
Clint opened one eye, blinking like a sleepy owl to see what was weighing him down. He laughed.   
  
"My left leg is asleep. How much does one of the cats’ weigh?"  
  
"He's big boned," Grace told him.  
  
"Yeah," he said teasing. "You ready to go train?"  
  
Grace nodded, and they agreed to meet in the gym within the hour. When she got there, Steve and Bucky were already there, looking to be in deep conversation. Then Peter strolled in.  
  
He smirked at her, shook her head. "I want another shot at that."  
  
"At what?" she had to ask. Just to see Peter's smiling face made her happy. He was like having a baby brother and she couldn't resist teasing him.  
  
"At the Black Widow… thing," he told her, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"Well, I can use the practice in taking you down, so let's do it," she said with laughter in her voice.  
  
Grace took off, running at Peter. Before she could finish the move, he shot web at her, pulling her right leg out from under her and dropping her to the mat hard. Grace was winded as she laid there, stunned for a moment.  
  
"Yes" Peter was celebrating above her. "That worked!"  
  
Sam had just walked into the gym, grinning as he watched Grace climb to her feet.   
  
"Oh, little man, you're in for it now," Sam warned, smiling at her and back to Peter.

Grace took off again, not going easy on Peter and vaulted over him, incorporating some of her gymnastic moves. She wrapped her legs around his neck, pinning him to the floor.  
  
"Holy shit, ok I give up!" Peter shouted quickly, amazed at how fast Grace was on her feet. She laughed and helped him up off the training mat gently.  
  
"You beat me, Peter. Just need to be quicker on your feet, and we'll make you faster," Grace said amused, Peter smiled as Clint entered the room with Sophie, and Natasha.  
  
Grace smiled when she saw Sophie walk over to Bucky, she was glad that her sister had someone to help her with everything that was going on.  
  
She felt better than she had yesterday, this team was truly feeling like a family to her. And she was going to help them save Darcy, Jane and Pepper.

* * *

The autopsies on the six unknown women was taking place, and Helen Cho with the assistance of Bruce and Jemma examined the bodies.  
  
"Signs of multiple sexual assault on the three-woman, cause of death appears to severe blood loss. Jane Doe six appears to have given birth three weeks ago, and has vaginal scarring," Jemma said quietly, wishing they knew the poor women's names. It didn't feel right calling them Jane Doe, all three women were definitely Inhumans. But aside from that information, they learnt nothing else about them so far.  
  
DNA tests were being run, and Tony was running facial recognition software with Lilia. Everyone was praying they'd find Darcy, Jane and Pepper before HYDRA hurt them.  
  
"So, all six gave birth?" Bruce asked wearily, he felt sick at what he was seeing as Director Nick Fury entered the lab.  
  
He didn't like the grim expression on Fury's face, he looked horrified and Bruce swallowed.  
  
"We found a grave near the HYDRA base, three of our agents found the bodies of three infants," Fury explained quietly, his expression grim.  
  
Bruce exchanged a look with Helen and Jemma, feeling his heart sink as he braced himself for the rage. Thankfully, the Other Guy was quiet, and not acting out but he was livid.  
  
"Send the bodies here, Fury. We'll treat them with respect, and compassion." Jemma said quietly, Fury nodded and left.

* * *

Pepper woke up to see that she was in a bed and dressed in a hospital gown. She had no idea where she was, as she saw a with dark brown come in.  
  
"Excuse me, where am I?" Pepper asked wearily, watching as the woman did something with her IV drip. She was starting to feel groggy and slumped against the pillows.  
  
"You're in safe hands, Miss Potts." The woman said reassuringly, Pepper relaxed as she let the sleepiness take over her. Laura smirked, as she saw Rumlow enter.  
  
"I have to admit, I'm impressed. You work quickly, Rumlow and Foster only started crying when you reminded her that she got herself into this mess." Laura said impressed, by Rumlow's efficiency.   
  
  



	12. Project Genesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumlow has terrifying intentions for Pepper, as a nightmare begins for her. Lilia uncovers a file which holds horrifying information about Project Genesis. Tony and Steve's suspicions are confirmed about Ross.

"If Foster's assistant hadn't been snooping for information, on Project Genesis then Foster wouldn't be in this mess." Rumlow said bluntly, eying Pepper hungrily.  
  
She wasn't bad looking, and she had wonderful breasts as he pulled out the metal handcuffs. He restrained her hands, and Laura smirked in amusement.  
  
This would be fun.

* * *

Rumlow could tell help but feel aroused by the sight of Pepper Potts handcuffed to the bed, and he cupped her right breast tightly. He heard her moan, and smirked.  
  
One of the HYDRA female scientists strapped her legs down to begin the process, he was going to enjoy this. He saw her wake up and grinned malevolently at her.  
  
"Hello Virginia, you're gonna be part of our experiment." He said amused, as he began cutting at her hospital gown with his knife.

Pepper's eyes widened, she jerked in the restraints as the knife sliced the gown up, over her stomach.   
  
"W-what experiment?" Pepper looked groggy, but she did understand that she was in very real danger. "Where am I?"  
  
"Don't worry about where you are," Rumlow told her as she slid the knife through the gown to just under her chin, grinning as he let the gown gap open down her body. "The experiment, well, let's just say it's not totally unfamiliar to you personally."  
  
Pepper's gaze bounced from Laura and back to him. Pepper squinted at her, did a double take.  
  
"Laura?" she rasped. "Right? You're Clint's wife."  
  
Laura shrugged nonchalantly. "Was."  
  
"What? Why are you here? Where's Clint?" Pepper's panic was a living thing around them, her fear nearly tangible. For Rumlow, the fear satisfied a craving. It was all he could do to contain the feeling of triumph as he watched the famous Pepper Potts, posed wife of Tony Stark, crumble before him.  
  
"Clint will meet the same fate as his children soon enough," Laura said coolly. "Not your problem though."  
  
One of the scientists reached the table next to the bed, opening a case he placed on the table. He opened it to reveal a set of injections of something that looked terrifying familiar.  
  
"Is that…?"  
  
The scientist, a small bald man, didn't even make eye contact with her.  
  
"Extremis?" Rumlow asked. "Why, yes, it is. I'm pleased you remember."  
  
Pepper shook her head frantically in denial. "You can't… Why would you… Why are you doing this?"  
  
Rumlow shrugged a shoulder. "I'm doing this because that's why HYDRA wants. Specifically, to you because you once had Extremis and you did remarkably well. You'll be our star pupil."  
  
"I need your help now," the scientist said, injection at the ready.  
  
Pepper fought as she watched the huge man walk around the bed to the other side. His grip on her arm was like a vice. He kept her arm flat against the metal bar, so she couldn't move it, smiling at her the entire while.  
  
"Just a few pricks," he told her, making it sound like she was overreacting. "Then a bigger one once he's done. Me and you will have a little fun."  
  
Pepper's mouth dropped open as the needle slid into her arm. She screamed as it burned its way along her arm, through her body.  
  


"T-Tony will come for me," she warned them.   
  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rumlow said with a chuckle. "That was a pretty bad fight. The slap across the face was a nice touch. I'm not so sure I'd come after you. I mean, you have a guy, a do-gooder granted, working hard to make the world a safe place for everyone, including you, and you're just a complete bitch to him. It's a level of selfishness that's just impressive really."  
  
Pepper gasped, feeling the virus burn its way into her body.  
  
"That's why I'm not going to feel too bad about what we do after these injections."  
  
Laura laughed on the other side.   
  
"You going to stay and watch again," Rumlow asked her.  
  
Her nod was the last thing Pepper saw as everything started to fade in and out. It felt like she was burning alive, from the inside out. The pain was intense and then he planned to rape her?  
  
With any luck, this time, the Extremis would kill her.

She could feel the burning sensation, despite needles being injected into her bloodstream. She could feel the fire burning through her veins, and cried out in pain. This could be happening to her again, it couldn't be. She felt tears stream down her face, she didn't regret how she'd spoken to Tony. If Tony hadn't gotten back into being Iron Man, then none of this would have happened.

* * *

The team refused to give up on finding Pepper, Darcy and Jane. The team had reluctant help from S.H.E.I.L.D grudgingly and were searching abandoned HYDRA bases in America. Clint and Grace both surveyed the abandoned HYDRA base located in Wyoming, it looked deserted. They cautiously entered the base, and Grace looked around quietly.  
  
It was like people had left in a hurry, there was hardly any equipment around the place. Clint cautiously checked the room and found nothing.  
  
He joined Grace and they both began searching the other rooms, when they came across a file. Half of it was written in Romanian, and Ukrainian. Clint couldn't make out most of it, but Grace helped him translate some of the words. He felt his stomach drop, as he saw Grace's face pale.  
  
Project Genesis.  
  
The project had been formed by Dr List and Dr Wolfgang Strucker, in 2014. The project's aim was to use Enhanced, Inhuman and Gifted women as breeding mares for HYDRA agents who had been part of Project Centipede.  
  
The file went on to file how many of the women had died from complications, caused by being impregnated by the HYDRA agents. Many of the women had died along with the baby, and there had been only one survivor.   
  
Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi had survived the procedure, she'd been captured in early July. Unlike the other women who had failed to carry the pregnancies to term, Grace had thrived, and it was believed her DNA had protected her.  
  
 _'Test Subject 24 shows no signs of illness, or stress. The father of the child had been informed.'_   
  
HYDRA also expressed interest in using Peter Parker, Natasha, Sophie and Bucky but dismissed Peter due to his young age.  
  
Clint saw that Grace was shaking slightly and gave her hand a tight squeeze. She gave him a grateful smile, and they put the file away as they continued to search.  
  
The wind howled around the base, and Clint pulled out his bow when he saw a blood trail leading down the hallway. He cautiously followed it, Grace behind him.  
  
And lying on a medical table, was the dead body of a young woman. Her stomach had been cut open, and her skin was waxy looking.  
  
She'd been dead for a few days.

"My God, Clint," Grace said with tears in her voice. "How many women have they done this to? How are we going to stop them?"  
  
Clint steered her out of the room. "Grace, we don't have to know right now how we're going to stop them. We only have to know that we will."  
  
Her beautiful face was drained of colour. "Clint, I'm scared."  
  
"I know," he told her, getting his comm ready to bring the team in for the body. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you. The team will keep you and your sister safe. I can promise you that."  
  
"And Bucky?"  
  
Clint snorted. "Steve damn near tore the Avengers apart before for Bucky. I would expect no less now. Besides, I think he likes your sister."  
  
Grace smiled at that, one small happy thought in all this darkness.   
  
"Need a team up here," Clint said into the comm. "We've got another body. If we can spare a couple of agents, let's sweep the grounds. You'll probably find the body of a child buried somewhere on the grounds."  
  
Grace's chin trembled. Clint wrapped an arm around her, trying to steady her. She was clutching the file so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white.  
  
"Let's get you out of here," Clint said. "Okay?"

* * *

Tony sat behind his desk when Clint walked in, Steve and Bruce waiting with him.   
  
"What did you find?" Tony asked. "Why the specificity on who was here?"  
  
Clint held the file, placing it down on Tony's desk.  
  
"Information Grace and I found on in Wyoming," he explained. "Most of it is in languages I can't read. The gist of it? Project Genesis."

That got Tony's attention. "Did you say Project Genesis?"  
  
"Yeah, reasonably sure I did," Clint told him.  
  
"Do you know what it is?" Tony asked curiously.  
  
"A breeding program to create super-soldiers," Clint told him. "The only one the Erskine serum ever really worked on was Cap here. Since they can't replicate his formula, they are taking enhanced and inhuman women, raping them, and forcing them to carry pregnancies that they hope will be a new race."  
  
Steve's expression was grim. "That's disgusting."  
  
"I asked for the specific people now because I don't want people's emotions to compromise them as we deal with this," Clint explained.  
  
"Compromised?" Steve asked concerned.  
  
"I even hesitated to have you here," Clint told him. "This concerns Bucky too."  
  
That got Steve's attention.  
  
"What about Bucky?"  
  
Clint calmly explained what they found. Aside from the body being autopsied at the moment in their lab, he explained the contents of the file.   
  
"Basically, only one woman has survived this procedure to produce a viable child," Clint finished.  
  
"Grace," Tony said out loud.  
  
Clint nodded grimly.  
  
"They will want her back," Clint told them. "And I don't mind saying that I'm emotionally invested because I'll die before I let that son-of-a-bitch Rumlow lay another hand on her."  
  
"They also had Sophie, Bucky, and Parker as viable candidates," Clint went on.  
  
"Peter?" Tony's face darkened in anger.  
  
"They ruled him out because of his age," Clint explained.  
  
"Bucky?" Steve didn't like that. "He's been through enough."  
  
"Agreed," Clint told him. "That wasn't why I didn't request him here. With Sophie being a target? I don't want him going off the deep end if they target her."  
  
Steve understood, but shook his head. "I think it will give him… focus."  
  
"I'll defer to whatever you think, Cap," Clint told him. "But I'm going to make my intentions very clear here. Rumlow? Is mine. Laura? She's mine. I don't want to fight any of you for the privilege of killing either one of them, but I will if I have to."  
  
"It's okay, Legolas," Tony told him, his expression serious where his words weren't. "I understand. For my part, I'll stay out of your way."  
  
"But parts of our team are targeted," Steve wanted them to understand. "That means we're going to have to handle things carefully. And Ross…"  
  
"Ross knew," Tony said, rising from his chair. "Son-of-a-bitch, you're right. He knew the girls were targets and that's why he put them on the Avengers Initiative. Bucky, he was theirs to play with for years. No offense, Cap, but that was a given. And Peter?"  
  
Clint knew that pissed Tony off. He thought of the kid as a son.  
  
"I want Peter looked after," Tony told them.  
  
Steve nodded his agreement.

"We won't let anything happen to Peter, Tony. Grace, and Sophie love Peter like he's their baby brother, and Lilia might actually blow up someone if they hurt her assistant." Clint reassured, Tony looked relieved and reassured.  
  
"We better tell his aunt, and put her into protective custody. Not to mention his friends, their parents never came back after we killed Thanos," Tony said quietly, sighing bitterly.  
  
Even though Thanos was dead, people had still died because of him snapping his fingers. It was something he still hadn't forgiven Peter Quill for, and why none of the team left them alone.  
  
Steve squeezed his shoulder in a sign of comfort, and they both decided to get the others.

* * *

Lilia had been busy looking through Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster's laptops, that SHIELD had given to her. Whoever had been on them, had not left any clues. She frowned when she saw that Darcy had been hacking into the old Soviet Union government files, she managed to download the files onto a backup USB stick.  
  
 _'Project Genesis Candidates.'  
  
'Natalia Alianovna Romanoff: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been in the Red Room Program.'   
  
'Sophie Anastasia Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been burn from the successful Widow Project.'   
  
'Grace Alexandra Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed suitable, after successfully carrying a child conceived from a HYDRA agent who was a member of Project Centipede.'   
  
'Peter Benjamin Parker: Not a suitable candidate, due to his young age.'   
  
'James Buchanan Barnes: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having the super soldier serum. Will be recaptured in time, along with the two sisters, and Black Widow.'   
_  
The file went on to express interest in using an Enhanced individual known as Quicksilver, Lilia had no idea who that was. But HYDRA did want Wanda Maximoff, who was the only surviving female from Project Psyche.  
  
Lilia felt sick, as she saw Tony's name had been added onto the list, due to his genius intellect. It was hoped by using Steve, Bucky, and Quicksilver, and a man named Ronin that they could build an army.  
  
Hands shaking, she printed the files quickly and told her AI D.A.V.I.D to make sure no one hacked into the laptop. David assured her they wouldn’t and locked the laptop.

* * *

Sophie and Grace had been in the training room all afternoon but neither minded, Grace had told Sophie what she and Clint had found in abandoned HYDRA base. It made her feel sick and horrified at what these people did to those poor women. Had they done this to their mother, when she'd been used by them? She took off the boxing gloves, and took a sip from her bottle of water, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She saw Bucky entering the room, and he looked at her quietly.  
  
"Tony and Steve are calling an emergency meeting, everyone needs to be there in an hour," he explained quietly, and Sophie could tell that he was worried.  
  
"Has something happened?" Sophie asked concerned, Bucky bit his lip and squeezed her hand. He didn't want to scare her or Grace, as Peter came over.  
  
"Lilia's found out something on Darcy's laptop, and it's not good." He said finally, his voice from.  
  
Sophie felt her hair stand on end.

* * *

They'd all gathered into the larger conference room at the compound for the meeting, Steve and Tony waiting for everyone to arrive and take a seat before getting started.

Grace caught the concerned glance between Nat and Steve when she walked in with Sophie and it did nothing to bring down her already elevated anxiety level. Clint motioned her over, having saved her a seat. Joining him she sat down as Tony looked ready to get started.  
  
"Hey guys," Tony started. "So, thanks to ah, my –"  
  
"Lilia," she offered with a smile.  
  
"Her," Tony pointed to her, "we have some critical new data that we need to review as a team."  
  
"Starting without me?"  
  
Nicky Fury walked into the room to loom over them ominously, Maria Hill right behind me.  
  
"Just started," Tony told him, trying to reach his usual snarky level but missing it by a mile. Whatever it was, it had Tony rattled. That wasn't a good sign.  
  
"Lilia, why don't you…." Tony motioned her to the front.  
  
"Okay," Lilia told him, coming to stand next to him. "I was able to retrieve data from S.H.I.E.L.D from laptops belonging to Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Unfortunately, it appears they were targeted because of their hacking efforts into old Soviet files. From what I can tell Ms. Lewis was able to retrieve files and download them onto a thumb drive. No clues were left as to who accessed the systems after they were captured. Whoever they were, they really knew what they were doing."  
  
Steve's expression was grim as he looked to Thor, knowing his friend's feelings for Jane were still raw and painful.  
  
"They are calling this program Project Genesis and it's a breeding program. They need to generate an army of enhanced, superior individuals," Lilia explained.  
  
"Which doesn't do them any good for what – twenty years?" Nick offered.  
  
"Well," Lilia continued, "you would think that but…"  
  
"But what?" Sophie prompted, knowing the other woman was struggling with whatever she needed to say.  
  
"Okay, look," Lilia explained, "HYDRA has been secretly working on some very interesting biological experimentation in the last few decades. None of this is really new, it just existed without our awareness. They are working with Extremis, which I know most of you have heard of, and is likely why Pepper Potts was taken. She's been the most successful project with the virus to date."  
  
Tony's face showed his shock.  
  
"I'm sorry," Lilia told him. "The one project they haven't had any luck on – so far – is age acceleration. The minute they figure out how to do that, their army goes from being a threat down the road to an immediate emergency."  
  
"So, we need to locate facilities where this is being developed and shut them down?" Steve asked.  
  
Lilia nodded.  
  
"Apparently Darcy was able to locate certain data files, including lists of possible candidates for the project. They include Natasha ---"

"I can't have children," Nat pointed out.  
  
Lilia took a deep breath. "Another part of their biological developments is the reversal of sterilizations. Even on females. Their plan for you is to reverse that and then breed you."  
  
The look on Natasha's face made Lilia's heart drop. To think they sterilized her to make her a weapon, taking away her ability to have children if she ever wished. Then wanting to reinstate it to cruelly use her for a broodmare.   
  
"They have also identified Sophie and Grace as potential candidates," Lilia went on, "particularly since Grace is the only experiment case to produce a live birth and thrive with the child."  
  
"Live birth?" Grace's eyes stung with tears. "He's my son."  
  
"I know," Lilia said gently. "I mean you no offense. Sophie was the result of an experiment, same as you, and they think she's viable along with Bucky who they plan to take back and Wanda who is the only living experiment from Project Psyche."  
  
Bucky's expression was closed while the sisters gazed at each other fearfully.  
  
"They eliminated Peter Parker as a possible candidate, for now, due to his age," Lilia went on.  
  
"But the minute they can age him…?" Tony threw in.  
  
"They'll likely re-add him to the list," Lilia said.  
  
"This is barbaric," Natasha grumbled. "Forcing people to breed. How is that scientific?"  
  
"It greatly increases the chances of a viable pregnancy," Lilia told them. "They are using their agents as fathers for the female patients. Many have been a man named Brock Rumlow who is working with a female accomplice, someone you all knew as someone named Laura."


	13. Secrets Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team bond at a movie night, Bucky learns from Sophie about her and Grace's pasts. Rumlow offers Pepper a choice.

"Yeah, we know her, she's the bitch who stabbed me and killed our two children. I'll deal with her," Clint said darkly, a dangerous expression on his face. Something told Lilia that Clint would not make Laura's death quick, no he'd make it painful and slow.  
  
"Her real name is Ekaterina Kravchenko, she was born in Russia, Stalingrad which is now known as Volgograd. She was born on the 4th of July 1986," Lilia said grimly, showing a picture of Laura on the screen.  
  
"We don't have a lot of information on Laura, what we do know is that she's dangerous and she's a master spy. We believe that these two are operating the program together, and we need to be careful. These people are dangerous." She said warningly, when she heard her phone ring.  
  
It was her father, Mihai Dumitrescu.  
  
"Excuse me, I just need to take these phone call." Lilia said quietly, moving out of the room, causing everyone to stare.  
  
"Who's that on the phone to her?" Scott Lang asked curiously, Tony shook his head at him warningly.  
  
"Her dad, Dr Mihai Dumitrescu. He lives in România, Budapest but he does a lot of volunteer work in third world and war-torn countries. He's in Sokovia, at the minute." Tony explained quietly, as he took over the meeting.

* * *

"Papa, are you alright?" Lilia asked worriedly, her father wasn't exactly a young man anymore but that didn't stop him from helping people. God bless him, she was proud of her father and his kindness.  
  
"I'm fine, Lily. I've just finished a surgery, it's complete chaos over here again. Serbia is fighting for control of Sokovia again, people are terrified." Mihai said concerned.  
  
Lilia felt her chest tighten at his words, and she heard alarms going off, she frowned.  
  
"Papa, what's going on?" She asked anxiously, worry surging through her like a firestorm. She felt worried for her father's safety.  
  
"It's nothing, that explosion wasn't anywhere near us. I love you, Lilia," Mihai said quickly, knowing he didn't have long.  
  
"I love you too, papa." Lilia said bravely and wiped her eyes as the line went dead. She sat still for a moment, before sobbing quietly into her hands.  
  
Her dad had to be alright, he had to be. He was her hero, he always came home safe and well.

* * *

"The Extrimis serum killed this woman, the baby was born stillborn as a result. Given what they've used, it seems they're improving because the latest victims gave birth without any complications." Helen informed the team, and Fury.  
  
"So, what killed them?" Steve asked wearily, Helen sighed grimly and pulled down the sheet, so they could see the third victim's throat.  
  
"Yulia Zarhenkova's throat was slit, minutes after giving birth. The same MO was done to Nadia Nadarević, and Elena Nikolayev." Helen said grimly, and swallowed.  
  
"Tony, there's no easy way to say this but Pepper is pregnant with your baby. When we explained to Pepper's doctor what was going on, she informed her doctor that she was pregnant. She was.... scheduled to have an abortion today, at 2:30 PM." Helen explained gently.  
  
Tony's face turned cold at her words, he'd always wanted children with Pepper. It was why he'd become like a father to Peter, and Pepper was planning to abort their baby?  
  
"Could the baby survive? Despite the Extrimis?" He asked quickly, urgency in his voice.  
  
"It's possible, you have the Arc Reactor and it could have genetic impact on your baby," Helen said carefully.  
  
Tony nodded, and swallowed as he looked at the rest of the team who were in shock.  
  
"I need to be alone, just for a few hours." He said numbly and headed to his lab.  
  
No one stopped him.

* * *

"So, patient twenty-five is pregnant along with patient twenty-six, and you're sure our candidate isn't the father?" Dr Lozchenko asked intently, Laura nodded.  
  
"Positive, the fathers are Iron Man and Thor. The two women were scheduled to have abortions, neither of them wanted the child." Laura confirmed smoothly, a smile on her face.  
  
This was their advantage. Once the two women were in the late stages of pregnancy, they would induce them. The Avengers would be distracted.  
  
It was perfect.

* * *

"So, you wanted to kill your baby with Tony Stark? And you wanted to kill your baby with Thor? Looks like you two aren't such nice women." Rumlow said cruelly, eying the two women who were hooked up on IV drips.  
  
Jane sobbed openly, she didn't want children and that was why she'd broken up with Thor for the final time. He wanted children, she didn't.  
  
Pepper said nothing, she was too busy staring at Rumlow who was absently running his hand over her stomach.  
  
"None of you three are like my girl. She's beautiful, she's got light blonde hair, and big china blue eyes. Plus, she's got breasts that I'd loved biting and cutting. You should hear the sounds she made, and she put up more of a fight then you two did." He said viciously and pulled out a video camera.  
  
He looked at her coldly and forced her out of the bed. She got up shakily, feeling nervous.  
  
"Strip for me. And I'll give you a taste?" He offered teasingly, Pepper was shocked at what he was offering.

"What?" Pepper stared at him in shock.   
  
Rumlow grabbed a handful of her strawberry blonde, dragging her out of the room and pulling out the IV while she cried out in pain.   
  
Dragging her into the next room, with sterile white walls and a narrow bed, he slung her out into the floor.  
  
"Let's make a deal," he told her, grinning. "You want to make things easier for yourself? You tell me things about Tony and you tell me things about a certain…"  
  
Looking at the phone in his hand, he read, "Lilia Dumitrescu."  
  
Pepper stared at him in confusion from the floor. "She's a new employee at Stark Industries… I interviewed her, but I don't know a lot else. She's a new addition to the AI team."  
  
"Whatever you've got," he told her, "whatever you know about her. About him. Tell me and make things easier for me here and things will go better for you."  
  
"So tell you what I want to know and… not fight you?" Pepper wanted to make sure she understood what he was saying.  
  
"Yeah," he smirked. "The intel I'll get from you either way. The easy way or the hard way?"  
  
Pepper started to quietly cry, wanting an end to this nightmare. "I… I thought you liked it… when we fought you."  
  
"I have the other two for that," he said, seeming amused. "Besides, that can't be easy on an older gal like yourself. What do you say?"  
  
Shaking, Pepper thought over her options. It didn't take her long to reach a decision.  
  
She nodded.  
  
Rumlow's face lit up. "Stand up."  
  
Pepper climbed unsteadily to her feet, trying to stop her tears since they were pointless.   
  
"Now, strip," he ordered.  
  
Pepper pulled the hospital gown off and sat down onto the bed.

* * *

Sophie, since she was little had used cooking to calm her nerves. It was barely working today but it was working. With each day bringing some fresh horror, she needed to do something to feel normal again. Grace caught her making dinner, smiled and jumped right in. They were so used to working together in the kitchen, long hours side by side and it was a small bit of comfort for them.  
  
Natasha came to grab the remains of her green smoothie from the fridge, grinning at finding them there.  
  
"What in the world are you two up to?" the gorgeous spy asked with a grin. "It smells wonderful."  
  
"Dinner," Sophie told her. "Something so I can feel like me again."  
  
"It doesn't hurt that we have everything imaginable in here," Grace told Nat with a wink.  
  
"Beef Wellington," Sophie told the spy.  
  
"With brussels sprouts and baby carrots. Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. And a cake to die for, pun intended, for dessert."  
  
Nat raised a brow but still looked very happy.  
  
"Let's talk portions, have you seen how much these guys can eat?" Nat wondered aloud.  
  
Sophie nodded. "Well, I've been thinking about that. I'm sure with their enhanced metabolisms, the super-soldiers have quite an appetite."  
  
"Bucky does," Nat winked at Sophie. "Clint, however, is the bottomless pit. At least he was before… Okay, let's make a plan here."  
  
"You cook?" Grace asked.  
  
"Hell, no. I can burn water. But no one has ever been able to out plan me," Natasha assured them.  
  
"Fair enough," Sophie told her with a grin. "Let's make that plan."  
  
And what a plan it was. It involved adjusting numbers and thank goodness they had time to pull more off, coming up with a salad, and the perfect wine.  
  
"We should have a movie night," Nat told them. "It would be a perfect way to finish up a meal like this. What do you think?"  
  
The sisters nodded, happy.   
  
Steve happened by as he came looking to see if anything had been planned. His face lit up to see the bustle in the kitchen.  
  
"What's going on in here?" he came to stop, hands on hips.  
  
"Dinner, Cap," Nat told him.   
  
"A home-cooked meal," he told them. "Sounds great. What can I do to help?"  
  
Steve started carrying platters out to the sideboard and table in the dining room. Nat winked at Sophie.  
  
"You couldn't have come up with anything better to charm Bucky," Nat told Sophie. "Good job."  
  
Sophie felt her face heat up. "I thought everyone would maybe enjoy it."  
  
"Especially Bucky. Come on. You know he likes you," Nat told her.  
  
Glancing past the spy, Gracie was nodding her agreement.

Sophie said nothing but smiled happily, as she started focusing on the dessert while Grace and Natasha helped with it. The large Beef Wellington was cooking in the industrialised, oven in the large kitchen.  
  
The Beef Wellington finished cooking, and she took it out of the oven, before putting it on a plate. It was steaming hot, and the pastry was perfect.  
  
"The Wellington's done, and so are the vegetables, and sauce. Just need to get the cake in the oven," Sophie said relived, Grace and Natasha smiled.  
  
Once the chocolate cake was prepared into the baking tray, they put it in the oven, and set the timer. Natasha, Grace and Sophie put the food on the table.  
  
"Holy shit, that smells good." Tony said hungrily, he and Lilia had been looking over all of the files, Clint and Grace had found in the HYDRA base but so far had no more luck.  
  
"The cake will be ready after we've eaten, it's just in the oven." Sophie said softly, seeing Bucky sitting down next to her, and she gave him a shy smile.  
  
He smiled back, and passed her the plate with vegetables as she put some on her plate. She then passed it to Grace, who had some and gave it to Clint.  
  
It was like a proper family having dinner.

Bucky honestly thought he would burst out of his jeans, after eating the deliciously cooked Beef Wellington with steam cooked vegetables, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. He had to unbutton his jeans, but he still had room in his stomach for the chocolate fudge cake that Sophie, Grace and Natasha had cooked.  
  
"Damn, that meal was better than what restaurants serve up," Bucky said amazed, Sophie smiled at him as the timer went off, and she went to get the cake out.  
  
The smell of dark chocolate wafted through the air, causing everyone's mouths to drool in hunger. Bucky actually felt his stomach growl in hunger.  
  
"I don't usually eat chocolate, but I'm letting go for tonight." Bruce declared seriously, and Sophie came out with the cake.  
  
It sat on a cake stand, smelling and looking delicious as she cut slices for everyone. Bucky bit into it, and felt the fudge melt on his tongue, bringing back memories.  
  
His mother and Steve's mother, both baking cakes for them on special occasions. Or, when it was their birthday, or to celebrate something.  
  
"This is delicious, dolls. You three knocked yourselves out." Bucky said impressed, causing them to smile. And Sophie smiled, her blonde bangs falling over her forehead.  
  
He smiled back at her.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, there was still a lot of chocolate cake and once everyone got changed into their pyjamas for the night. The team were trying to decide what movie to watch.

Horror films were out of the question, considering what they'd found out. Clint didn't feel like being scared tonight and sat on the velvet sofa next to Grace. Lucky sat on his dog bed, with Salem, Starling and Custard all dosing off, while Tom sat on the armrest. The fluffy black and white cat, lightly snoring.  
  
The other cats, were sitting on people's laps, or on the sofas. Wanda had Patch on her lap, while Bruce had Paul on his chest. Bucky and Sophie had Bonnie, and Jack. Thor and Loki had two Norwegian Forest cats sitting on them, both were so fluffy it was like fluff mania. Loki stroked the cat affectionately.  
  
Sam, Sharon, Steve, Natasha, and Helen were all sitting comfortably on two other sofas. While, Tony and Lilia sat next to each other comfortably, and her ginger cat sat by them, Rubio.  
  
"Can we watch a funny film? I really don't wanna watch Alien VS Predator." Scott said uncomfortable, the film had always freaked him out.  
  
"How about Star Wars?" Peter suggested optimistically.

"Star Wars." Tony raised his brows. "Original trilogy? Prequel trilogy? Or sequel?"  
  
"No," Clint called. "I veto the prequel trilogy. It sucked!"  
  
"The one with Qui-gon? That one's good," Peter argued.  
  
"Which one had the teddy bear planet?" Wanda asked, snuggling with the cat. "I liked that one."  
  
"What is Star Wars?" Thor asked curiously.  
  
Tony rolled his eyes.  
  
Natasha got up from her place, walked by Tony to the console and simply typed in an entry. Tony turned around to see Jurassic World load up. Then he looked really excited, clapping his hands together.  
  
"Yes! Watch this, guys," he said, further typing into the console. When the room darkened, Grace looked around, seeing minor projections behind them, all around the room. As the opening sequel started it looked completely 3D.  
  
"Oh wow, Tony!" Clint was excited. "How the hell did you do this?"  
  
"Well, as I was developing B.A.R.F, I thought wouldn't it be neat to use this for 3D movies for that fully immersive experience?"  
  
"Wait, can we do this with pornos too?" Clint teased,  
  
Nat slung a pillow that narrowly missed Grace and hitting Clint in the face.  
  
"It's not a bad idea," Sam threw in there prompting Sharon to shove him off the couch.  
  
"Children!" Nat yelled.  
  
Steve and Bucky looked fascinated by the technology, especially one of the four raptors appeared to have walked around the couch. Thor looked around with wide eyes, trying to decide if any of it was really. Loki, shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

By the time, the teen and his younger brother were stranded in the park, Nat had snuck into the kitchen and made three huge bowls of popcorn, passing those around while everyone watched the action all around them, the sound lending an atmosphere that truly was immersive. Steve kept his eye on Bucky who seemed a little nervous at first but who came around pretty quickly, only occasionally ducked and dodged.   
  
Grace noticed him grin at them later, then she saw why. Sophie's hand was tucked into Bucky's. That was a good thing she thought. Grace had curled into Clint's side, so he threw his arm around the back of the couch, so she could be more comfortable. By the time the new mutant dinosaur came on the scene, his arm was just wrapped around her, pulling her even closer.   
  
Feeling so safe and comfortable wasn't something Grace felt a lot since the loss of her parents. It was nice, and she enjoyed it, letting it lull her in a happy place. She dozed against Clint, catching him looking at her in her peripheral vision.

He smiled at her, and she smiled back as they watched the film. It was very suspenseful in parts, particularly when it was revealed the mutant dinosaur had raptor DNA.  
  
The film ended with Claire and Owen left the hospital, bit Grace couldn't wait to watch the sequel.  
  
It had been enjoyable, and the team wanted to watch another film. So, they decided on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi with the cute teddy bears.  
  
 _'I can get used to this, I can,'_ Grace thought peacefully, and leaned into Clint, who held her close.

* * *

Sophie sat next to Bucky as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi played, she could see Grace drawing cake designs on her sketchbook, and she had ideas too.  
  
Like plans for an Ewok and C - 3PO cake, or just generally a Star Wars themed cake. She fondly remembered for Peter's tenth birthday, they’d hosted a Star Wars themed birthday party for him.  
  
"Aww, these teddy bears are so cute. Look at how cute they are," Wanda said adoringly, Lance Hunter rolled his eyes as he watched the film with them.  
  
"Darth Vader redeemed himself, I believe." Thor said quietly, as they saw Darth Vader grabbing Palpatine and throwing him into the electrical grid.  
  
Everyone nodded in agreement, Bucky sat next to Sophie as they watched the ending of the film. Luke cremating his father and celebrating with the others.  
  
"And the moral of the story?" Loki asked intrigued, he had secretly enjoyed this film, as much as it pained him.  
  
"That people can always change, Loki." Sophie answered softly, and squeezed Bucky's left hand tightly, Bucky felt his heart swell with emotion towards her.  
  
She was a very special dame.

* * *

Sophie and Grace took the team to visit the Melnychenko Drăgoi cake bakery and were shocked by what Tony's renovation team had done to their store. It was beautiful, and it had that homey feel around the shop that only their parents could bring to the store with Zach. Three framed photos hung behind the store, of their parents and Zach.  
  
Grace felt tears of happiness sting her eyes, as she stared at their beloved store. She looked at Tony who had his hands in his pockets and pulled him into a hug. Sophie joined the hug, and the two women hugged him tightly. Tony seemed to understand what they were saying silently, and hugged them back.  
  
"Tony, we can't thank you enough. How much do we owe you?" Sophie asked thickly, trying not to burst into tears. The store felt like home, like their parents were here with them.  
  
Tony looked at them both seriously and smiled genuinely at the two young women.  
  
"Could you make me a cake? Anything that had chocolate and coffee in it?" He asked hopefully.

"Every day if you like," Sophie told him, swiping at her face with the back of her hand.  
  
Grace ducked behind the counter with her and they got to work while the others took a look around the bakery. Bucky caught Sophie's attention, pointing to Zach's photo on the wall. "Is that Zach?"  
  
Sophie nodded quietly, not wanting to draw Grace's attention while she helped her to get the cake started.  
  
Bucky stared up at the image with sad eyes, studying it for the longest time.   
  
"You knew him, didn't you? Rumlow?" Sophie asked quietly.  
  
Bucky nodded. "He was part of Pierce's S.T.R.I.K.E. team. I knew him very well. Fortunately, Zach has Grace's eyes."  
  
Sophie knew that was true. "What is he like?"   
  
Grace had cut them a glance, but Sophie was reasonably sure her sister didn't know who they were talking about.  
  
Bucky moved closer as she got out flour, baking powder, and eggs.  
  
"World-class combatant," Bucky said keeping his voice low. "He could street fight, knew martial arts. He was a tough son-of-a-bitch. At least he was until the Triskelion fell. He was supposed to take out Steve, with my help. That didn't work out so well for him."  
  
Bucky watched her work, while Grace chatted happily with Nat, Steve, and Clint.  
  
"You worked with him?" Sophie wanted to know.  
  
"I wouldn't word it like that, doll," Bucky explained. "I wasn't his equal. I wasn't even his subordinate. I was a tool he wielded like the rest of them. I wasn't even considered… human."  
  
Sophie's heart sank. "You know that's not true, right? You are so much more than they made you believe."  
  
"Was I?" Bucky dropped his gaze, looked embarrassed to be there.  
  
"You're a hero," Sophie told him. "No matter what happened during those years HYDRA held you captive."  
  
"I don't know what your history books told you, doll," he whispered. "But it wasn't that I was a hero."  
  
"Don't argue with a lady," Steve said quietly as he passed by, winking at Sophie.  
  
Sophie grinned at that. "Not that I'm one to disagree with the captain, but I think your status as a hero or not is dependent on perspective. You're a hero to me."  
  
"What did I do to earn that?" Bucky asked, a corner of his mouth tipping up.  
  
"Well, you're my mentor, aren't you?" Sophie asked, beginning to mix her dry ingredients. "You didn't sign up for that. At least, I know you didn’t. But you had to take on a scared, unwitting child of HYDRA agents. All you've done is watch over me, try to comfort me, keep me safe. What is it that a hero does again?"  
  
Bucky fought a smile, wasn't quite successful. "So how long have you had this shop? How long were you working in here?"

* * *

"We've owned the store since we emigrated here from Ukraine, Odessa. Our parents were worried about the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster, so we moved here in 2001. My parents had saved up money, and we opened the Melnychenko Drăgoi cake shop." Sophie said fondly, thinking of her parents.  
  
Bucky smiled at her words, he could see how much she loved her parents and she wiped her eyes.  
  
"The third and fourth photographs are of our grandparents, mama's parents and papa's parents. We never got to know them, they died before we were born," She explained quietly, seeing his questioning look.  
  
Bucky squeezed her hand tightly, his own maternal grandparents had been killed during the Holocaust for Jewish and Romani. It left a bitter taste on his tongue. Because once again, children were being ripped from their mothers, and fathers. He hated the new President, and what he stood for.


	14. A Painful Realisation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace's hopes of finding her son are shattered when she, Sophie and the others are given news. Steve and Tony worry for their team, and suspect Ross is involved. Darcy uncovers a secret about Rumlow.

Grace was busy making the coffee buttercream for Tony's dark chocolate and coffee cake, she'd just finished making the sugar glass Iron Man for him. The chocolate cake was baking in the oven, giving her and Sophie time to get the decorations done. Tony had done so much for them and was trying to help her find Zach.  
  
And this was she was keeping herself busy, she knew deep down that her son was dead but a part of her was in denial. She didn't want to believe that her son was dead. She was just hoping for a miracle, Clint came over quietly and she smiled at him as they started writing Iron Man on the cake.  
  
"I know it's been two years, I know Zach might be gone but am I stupid for trying to keep faith?" She asked quietly, Clint was silent as he looked at her quietly.  
  
"No, I don't think you're stupid. I think it's good that you're open minded, and not giving up," Clint said finally, if he was in Grace's position, he'd never give up.  
  
Grace nodded in thanks and watched as Sophie took the cake out of the oven. She then carefully put it down to cool.

* * *

With patient twenty-five and patient twenty-seven successfully impregnated, Dr Rodchenko had focused the attention on Darcy Lewis. She'd attempted to escape twice, and Rumlow always had like a fight.  
  
"Miss Lewis, do you really think Miss Potts and Dr Foster want to abort their babies?" He asked calmly, looking at the girl who was tied down to the bed.  
  
She had an IV and the Extrimis serum pumping into her veins, she was glaring at him. Rumlow would enjoy her.  
  
"They're not babies, they're......things born out of rape!" Darcy screamed enraged, and he narrowed his eyes at the insolent, pathetic girl in front of him.  
  
"I had hoped you'd listen Miss Lewis. However, it seems, you are too stubborn to realise the good you will do by carrying the new generation of HYDRA," Rodchenko said disappointed, and nodded at the hidden camera.

Darcy didn't want kids, she never wanted them and the fact that Jane along with Pepper had quickly given up was unbelievable. This was forced impregnation, these bastards were forcing to have babies.  
  
She said nothing as Laura entered and calmly injected her with something, she didn't feel anything for a minute. But then a burning sensation was ripping through her, as she saw a handsome man with dark brown hair.  
  
His eyes were cruel and looked excited, he strolled over and very firmly gripped her face.  
  
"You're not killing our babies, bitch. They're gonna bring down our enemies, and you're not doing a botched abortion." He growled menacingly, cupping her right breasts with his right hand.  
  
Darcy whimpered, maybe if she made out she liked his sadistic sexual fantasies, he'd let her go. Hell, she'd bring him the woman he was obsessed about.

"Harder," Darcy whispered.  
  
Rumlow quirked an eyebrow at her. "This is new."  
  
"I've always enjoyed it," Darcy said flippantly. "I'm just tired of pretending I don't. It's getting old."  
  
Rumlow chuckled at that. "You're not playing a game with me, are you little girl?"  
  
Ah, Darcy thought. Is that what he likes?  
  
"What do you want me to be, handsome? Your little? Your baby girl?" Darcy asked cautiously.  
  
Rumlow slid his hand down to the hem of her gown, back up to her breast under it. "Not from you."  
  
"From her," Darcy said quietly. "Your blonde girl. What's her name again?"  
  
"Grace," he said tightly.  
  
"Grace," Darcy said with enthusiasm. "It's a beautiful name. I'm not half the woman she is…"  
  
"You're not," Rumlow muttered, his other hand cupping his erection.  
  
"I could help you get her back," Darcy teased, pressing her breast further into his hand. "I haven't met her, so they'd never suspect me of anything. Especially if I were a poor rescued, traumatized survivor. Think about it. They'd be so busy trying to take care of me, I could pretty much do what I wanted."  
  
His hand stopped moving. She could see in his face he was thinking about what she was saying, considering it.  
  
"Yeah, and how would you secure her for me?"  
  
"However, you want me to," Darcy went on. "You want her, not me. I get her for you, everyone gets what they want."  
  
"Or," Rumlow continued, "I keep her, and you and we have more HYDRA agents. What do you think of that?"  
  
"You want a HYDRA agent with my personality traits? I don't think so," Darcy explained. "I don't follow orders. I don't play well with others. How would any child of mine work out for what you guys want."  
  
Rumlow's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Because we could brainwash the little bastard into doing what we want if he doesn't comply."

 _Don't let him rattle you, Darce. Keep your composure.  
_  
"Did she give you children?"  
  
"Yes," Rumlow's movements stopped at that. "It was a boy."  
  
"What happened?" Darcy wanted to keep him talking. Talking wasn't rape. Talking wasn’t being impregnated.  
  
"She had a son," Rumlow explained. "Named him Zach. Raised him even though she conceived him the same way you will conceive yours. I guess in some perverted way I loved her for that. Fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. took him."  
  
Darcy frowned. "What do you mean S.H.I.E.L.D. took him?"  
  
Rumlow's laugh was cold. "Fucking Ross came and had him taken away from her. It was cold as shit, especially when they run around calling themselves the good guys."  
  
Her heart clenched in her chest. Jesus, what did Ross do?  
  
"What happened to him then?" Darcy asked intrigued by the story, she wanted to know what had happened.   
  
His expression darkened. "They… You know what? Why am I talking to you? Stupid bitch."  
  
Darcy hissed in pain when he backhanded her, putting his strength into it. "I see what you're doing. It won't work. You should be grateful. You're not a Pepper Potts. You're not an astrophysicist. You're nothing. When you get knocked up with my kid from HYDRA, then you have something to be proud of. Until then…"  
  
Rumlow hopped up on the bed then, ripping away her clothes and his while Darcy screamed. She didn't want this, she didn't want to be used as a broodmare for HYDRA, she wanted things to be normal. She blamed Jane for this, not admitting that she'd caused this by hacking into the old Soviet files.

* * *

The team had arrived back from the bakery, after Sophie and Grace had taken cake orders from regular and old customers. One customer had asked if they could do an Avengers themed birthday cake, for her seven-year-old twin boys.  
  
The flavour was a chocolate cake with salted caramel, and chocolate buttercream. They'd just finished the cake for Saturday, and just needed to finish the decorations.  
  
Grace smiled at Tom who meowed, and she fed him, before scratching him behind the ears. Lucky, Clint's golden one-eyed Labrador was happily eating his dog food.  
  
She smiled at Clint who smiled back, as it was Tony's turn to cook dinner tonight. He was cooking Italian pasta, with beef meatballs and for dessert was tiramisu.  
  
Lilia was helping, and she had her dark mahogany hair pulled up into a fishtail plait. She was wearing a black pencil skirt, with a white shirt.

She couldn't help but feel safe here, as she finished the sugar glass pieces, and let them cool overnight. She was now going to take a shower, and then look for information on her son.  
  
She wouldn't give up on him.

* * *

"You're absolutely sure it's this place, Mack?" Coulson asked urgently, the man nodded as they overlooked a mass grave that had been discovered.  
  
"Positive, we better alert the Avengers, and Miss Drăgoi." May said quietly, overlooking the mass grave that had been located in Siberia, Russia. Diplomatic relations between Russia and America, had softened thanks to the Avengers who had exposed HYDRA agents working in the government.  
  
Coulson nodded, and looked at the lifeless body of a blonde-haired young boy, being placed gently into a body bag.

* * *

"Sir, two agents from S.H.I.E.L.D wish to speak to all of you." Jarvis announced, Tony frowned but nodded at the AI. He had a bad feeling about this.  
  
"Let them in, Jarvis." He said wearily, seeing the others looking wearily at the security footage. The two agents were let in, and Grace looked nervous. Coulson and May entered the room, and the tension in the air thickened. Clint saw Grace looked anxious, and wordlessly held her hand, and she held onto it tightly as Sophie wrapped an arm around her.  
  
"What's going on, Coulson?" Natasha asked finally, sensing that something was horribly wrong, and the agent took in a deep breath. He nodded at May, and she pulled out a dark brown teddy bear.  
  
Grace stiffened at the sight of the stuffed teddy bear, she could feel her heart pounding away in her chest. This was her son's teddy bear, Zach's favourite stuffed animal.  
  
"Where did you find that? That's my son's teddy bear?!" Grace asked fearfully, walking over and Coulson swallowed.  
  
"Our agents who were working with the Russian task force on HYDRA, discovered a mass grave in Siberia. I'm so sorry to ask this, but is this your son's teddy bear?" He asked gently.  
  
Grace swallowed but felt like she was drowning, she nodded and reached out to touch it.  
  
"Yes, it's my son's teddy bear. Where is he?!" She asked desperately, and Coulson took in a deep breath.  
  
"There's no easy way for me to say this, Miss Melnychenko Drăgoi. Your son's body was found in the mass grave," He explained quietly, and Grace went numb.  
  
Her son was dead....no, he couldn't be dead.

Clint caught Grace up in his arms before she could fall. He watched her crumble, curl in on herself. His heart ached, knowing that pain and knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could do to fix this for her, to make it better.  
  
"Coulson," Steve was in full Cap mode. "Was it really necessary to handle it like this? With no sensitivity to Grace whatsoever?"  
  
Coulson looked horrified, being taken to task by his idol. "Sorry Captain. "We'd been tasked by Stark to see what we could find, and we wanted to let you know our findings right away. I guess I didn't…"  
  
"No, you didn't," Steve said with a scowl.  
  
Clint had already scooped up a sobbing Grace, Sophie and Bucky on his heels as he steered them out of the living area and back to Clint's own apartment. Sinking down onto the couch with her, he just held onto her. Sophie sank onto her heels next to them, crooning and smoothing her sister's hair while tears ran down her face as well. It had been her nephew.  
  
For long moments, the only sounds in the room were the ragged sobs that tore from Grace. Sophie rose, whispering she'd be back, and dragging Bucky from the room behind her.

* * *

Sophie couldn't breathe she was so upset. Bucky had followed her back to her room, allowing her to shut them in her bedroom so she could be confident Grace couldn't hear.  
  
"Doll, are you okay?" Bucky's expression was edged with concern. "Breathe."  
  
"I don't feel like I can breathe," she told him, barely holding herself together. "I'm so scared, Bucky."  
  
Smoothing his palm over her face, he meant to calm her, get her focused on him. "No one is going to hurt you or Grace. We won't allow it."  
  
"I'm not worried about me," Sophie told him, her voice breaking. "It's Grace. I don't know why they took Zach or why they killed him, Bucky. In time, maybe we'll find out why they did this to us. But Grace… We have to watch her, night and day, Bucky. She'll go after them. I know it. I can't lose her. She's all I have."  
  
Bucky hadn't expected them to find the boy alive. He hadn't said as much and had hoped by some miracle he was wrong. Now that he'd been found, there were questions to be answered.   
  
Somehow it didn't feel him like this was the resolution of something, but the beginning.  
  
"We'll be there for Grace," he told them. "We need to talk to Steve and Tony. There's a lot of things I'm wondering here."  
  
The pain he read on Sophie's face blended with confusion. "What questions?"  
  
"We can't assume anything," he said carefully. "We need to know who killed him and why. And some of the answers aren't going to be easy for you or Grace to hear. This is all connected somehow to Pepper's disappearance, Dr. Foster and Darcy. What happened to Grace. It's all connected. We have to find those answers. We have to stop it."  
  
Sophie nodded, trying not to lose her composure.   
  
"Okay?" He whispered.  
  
Sophie nodded before pressing herself into his arms, seeking comfort.

Bucky held her tightly, feeling her tears stain his shirt but he didn't care about that. What hurt him, was seeing Sophie cry and mourn for her beloved nephew.  
  
He kissed her forehead, holding her tightly.

* * *

Grace didn't blame Coulson, he was only trying to be kind, but her heart felt like it had been ripped out. Her baby boy, her precious boy was dead. She clutched at Clint like he was her lifeline, he held her tightly and she felt like screaming. She felt like going on a murderous rampage and sobbed. What had her son done to deserve this? She could only imagine what those animals had done to Zach, her son must have been so frightened and alone.  
  
"He must have been so scared, Clint. And I wasn't there to keep him safe, I'm his mother and I couldn't save him." She sobbed brokenly, Clint held her tightly.  
  
"This wasn't your fault, he knew you loved him. Zach knew that you loved him, Grace," Clint said comfortingly, Grace sobbed brokenly and buried her face against where his heart was beating.  
  
He rocked her gently, singing an old lullaby that his mother would sing to him when he was upset. She held onto him tightly, as he saw Bucky and Sophie come in. Sophie nodded at him, and held Grace's hand tightly, tears sliding down her face silently. Bucky sat beside her, and his own face was saddened.

* * *

"What the hell was Zach doing in Siberia? He wasn't dressed for that type of weather." Steve asked horrified, Zach's body was being prepared to be sent back to the states.  
  
"I think it's safe to say, that either HYDRA or someone else were experimenting on him and other children. Daisy Johnson is sending us files, and there's a link," Tony said quietly, pulling up the emails between Thaddeus Ross and Senator Ellen Nadeer.  
  
"Senator Ellen Nadeer is part of the committee that oversees the Sokovian Accords, she voted in favour of it. But, Coulson's team have linked her to the Watchdogs, Gonzalez and to Ross. She and Gonzalez were the ones that had Zach and four other children arrested and taken away." Tony said grimly, when Jemma entered.  
  
"Zach's body will be here in the morning, two Russian agents will be bringing the evidence they found. They found four other bodies, and the families are being notified." She said quietly.  
  
"It's all somehow linked to Pepper, Dr Foster, Darcy, Sophie, Natasha and Grace. Something is going on here, Tony." Bruce said gravely, when a red eyed May and Peter entered with Michelle and Ned.  
  
"Is it true, Tony?" Peter asked shakily, he'd known Zach since he was a baby. He and Ned would babysit him and play with him.

Steve was worried about Tony at this point. His friend truly looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. His dark eyes met Peter's and he nodded.  
  
Peter crumbled, and Tony pulled the young man into his arms. "I'm so sorry, kid. I really am."  
  
Meeting May's gaze above Peter's head, Tony looked so sad.  
  
"Why?" May asked, her voice breaking. "Who would do something to a little boy like that. He was… so sweet. The sweetest little boy since Peter… Why?"  
  
"I wish I knew, May," Tony told her. "But we will find out."  
  
His gaze swung to Steve who nodded. "We will get to the bottom of this, Ma'am. You can be sure of that."

* * *

He watched Peter turn to be captured in a group embrace with his friends and May. Tony motioned for Steve to follow him into his office, closing the door as soon as Steve was inside. Steve waited for the other man to say what he needed to say.  
  
"There will be an autopsy done," Tony began. "I want to know exactly what they did to him and why."  
  
Steve did as well.  
  
"What is Ross doing?" Tony said quietly. "This fascination with both Grace and Sophie has been obvious since the beginning. Am I the only one who thinks that?"  
  
Steve shook his head. "It crossed my mind. But we're going to have to move forward carefully, Tony. We can't include everyone on the team in this."  
  
"Agreed." Tony stared at the floor for a moment, deep in thought, before looking back up. "Grace. From what you know of her, is she capable of going, vigilante? Would she try to go after them on her own?"  
  
"She's a mother, Tony," Steve said carefully. "Of course, she is. It's how to prevent it that I'm trying to work out."  
  
"Clint," Tony offered. "He's her mentor. She trusts him. I don't care if we have to handcuff her to Clint, we have to make sure she doesn't get away from us."  
  
Steve frowned at that. "What are you so concerned about happening?"  
  
Tony's gaze never wavered. "If she goes rogue, Ross has an excuse to put her down or worse…"  
  
"Wait," Steve followed that train of thought. "You really think Ross is in this?"  
  
"Up to his ass." Tony's jaw locked. "We can't give him an excuse to kill her, or worse, arrest her. If they did whatever they did to her son, what would they do to her? Her sister?"  
  
Steve saw his point. Ross would likely go after Sophie too and that Steve wouldn't allow. Bucky was falling for the young woman. Steve knew how this would go. Bucky wouldn't hesitate to go to extremes to keep her safe, to do what he thought he should do for her.  
  
Well, hell.  
  
"We'll need to keep Bucky and Clint apprised of what's going on," Steve stressed to him.  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
"We'll need to allow for a funeral service, Tony," Steve continued. "It's going to be hard, but we have to it."  
  
Tony nodded again, seemed to not be hearing him.  
  
"Do you think… I mean. Pepper…" Tony looked like a man burning alive on the inside. "Is there a chance?"  
  
Steve's heart sunk for his friend. "I hope so, Tony. I really do."  
  
Tony walked around to his chair behind the desk, sank into it heavily. "She's pregnant, Steve. She's pregnant and didn't want the child. Because it's mine. Or because she didn't want to be tied to me. Will I…"  
  
"See him or her?" Steve offered, trying to keep his voice even. It was hard. All of HYDRA's dealings in this arena, tampering with the lives of innocent children, was the worst sort of evil to him. So unforgivable that he wondered how he would keep control if he were to encounter certain scenarios.  
  
"The child is valuable to them, Tony," Steve said slowly. "Because it's yours. That give him or her a chance. I'll do whatever I can to help you bring that baby home, Tony. I promise you that."  
  
Tony nodded, then his face crumbled. Tony Stark, the Tony Stark, burst into tears causing Steve to rise to his feet.  
  
Tony waved him away with a hand. "No, go. I'm sorry…"  
  
Steve understood. He closed the door behind him as he went to see out Nat, to get her take on how to proceed here. He'd have to take the lead on this one. He was the only one who wasn't emotionally compromised. He'd get Sam's input too.  
  
The only thing he was sure of? He'd put a stop to HYDRA hurting his team.


End file.
